BAY CITY, MICHIGAN — A cat apparently trapped inside a vacant house has recently been rescued, although it’s possible some of his feline friends remain confined.
Recently, heavy winds knocked out the glass from a basement window. On Wednesday, Jan. 13, crews repaired the window, Wenzel said. That Sunday, Wenzel and her husband drove by the house and noticed there were cats in the living room window, she said.
“We tried the doors, but the doors were locked and we couldn’t get them out,” Wenzel said. In all, Wenzel saw a total of three cats — a black-and-white one with a bobtail, an orange-and-white one and a solid-black one.
Wenzel called Wells Fargo and the institution’s asset company maintaining the property, but was told it could take up to seven days for them to remove the cats.
“I said, ‘They could die by then.’ They’ve already been in there four or five days,'” Wenzel said. “I was so worried about them.”
Wenzel then called the Humane Society of Bay County, Michigan, which relayed the information to Bay County Animal Control. The agency apparently was able to get permission from Wells Fargo to enter the house, according to Jeanie Wolicki-Nichols, Humane Society president.
“If it hadn’t been for her coming forth, nobody would know,” Wolicki-Nichols said. “Thank goodness we have people like that.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, Animal Control officers entered the house.
“They went in, but they couldn’t find the cats anywhere,” Director Michael J. Halstead said. “They left a live trap and we retrieved one cat this morning.”
The officers reset the trap before leaving and will check on it once again, Halstead said. The cat they retrieved is the black-and-white bobtail, which also has long hair and is currently in quarantine at the Animal Control.
Wolicki-Nichols said the plan is for the Humane Society to sterilize and vaccinate the cat, as well as any others that are pulled from the Leng Street property. Wenzel said she is willing to temporarily foster the cats until a permanent owner can be found.
“We’re going to get her a cat shelter and monitor the care for the cats,” Wolicki-Nichols said.
While it’s unknown whether or not the cats have homes, Wenzel said she has seen the black-and-white and the orange-and-white ones around the neighborhood, and that she has on occasion left food and water out for them before.
Wolicki-Nichols stressed that an animal being trapped in such a predicament could happen to any pet who is allowed to wander.
“This could happen to any household pet when someone lets their pet out to roam,” she said. “If this neighbor hadn’t seen them, this cat could have died. I wish people would think about keeping their animals on their property and keeping their pets in the house.”