HALIFAX– Tony the cat normally lives on Chestnut Road. But, on Wednesday, March 30, Tony wandered away. Missing for 48 hours, the curious creature created a stir in the neighborhood, and kept neighbors on their toes searching, both high and low.
On Friday, though, one searcher heard a meow, from all places, beneath the street! Could that be Tony the cat, the neighbor thought, and from whence is that meow coming?
And to the neighbor’s surprise, Tony was found at the bottom of a storm drain. The neighbor called for help, and the Halifax Fire Department arrived to save the day.
Now Tony, already on an adventure, took off further into the stormdrain system when search and rescue arrived, necessitating some further back-up from the Water Department, who helped firefighters map out the underground pipes in the area.
Once the firefighters had an idea of where Tony was hiding, they strategically flushed water into various storm drains, chasing the cat into the arms of a waiting firefighter.
Happily, Tony and owner were soon reunited, and the cat is happily back at home on Chestnut Road, officials report.
When asked why the Halifax Fire Department rescued a cat from a storm drain, Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros responded that there were two reasons: First of all, he said, the area of the system where Tony was found was flooded, and the cat would likely not escape without intervention. Second of all, he knows how attached people are to their pets.
“If we didn’t go down there, a neighbor was going to go down. We didn’t want someone to be in an unsafe situation.”
Tony is a very lucky cat.