A pair of cats that had been stuck in a deep east Edmonton sinkhole since Good Friday are finally out, according to the homeowner whose property the sinkhole is home to.
“We caught the grey cat — which was the elusive one that was always hiding — so we were really happy we found him,” Rebecca Hung told Global News on Tuesday.
“He looked OK. He didn’t look like he was starved.”
She said she took the cat to the Animal Care and Control Centre. A city official told Global News the cat is a male and came in “a bit dehydrated” so fluids were administered. They said there were no other obvious signs of distress.
Hung said on Tuesday she was able to confirm the other cat had somehow managed to get out of the sinkhole as well.
“We’re hoping that it eventually finds its way home too if it has one,” she said.
On April 19, firefighters arrived at Hung’s house. She had just returned home from vacation and discovered the deep sinkhole along the side of her house. When she looked in she saw a cat.
READ MORE: Cats trapped in Edmonton sinkhole prompts firefighter rescue
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Watch below: (From April 19, 2019) Firefighters were called to home in Edmonton Friday after two cats got stuck in a sinkhole. Global News GoPro footage inside the hole shows one of the trapped cats.
Hung first called 311 but the city told her to call police who then contacted the fire department. It was firefighters who figured out there were actually two cats in the hole. They couldn’t get in to rescue the animals so they called in a technical rescue crew who reinforced the sides of the hole with wood.
They then covered a plank with a blanket and lowered that into the hole, hoping the cats would climb it and come out on their own.
The story gained attention across the country and even beyond Canada’s borders.
“I think it’s just really touching,” Hung said on Tuesday.
“People love animals and this is at least half a feel-good story that we were able to trap the one cat.”
Watch below: (From April 19, 2019) Emergency crews were called to an Edmonton home on Friday, after a woman doing some spring cleaning came across a large sinkhole. What was inside the hole led to a rescue operation. Sarah Kraus reports.
With both cats gone, Hung said the hole will now be covered with plastic and sealed up until an engineer can come to assess the situation next week. She doesn’t yet know what the remediation work will cost.
The hole is approximately three metres straight down but continues at an angle under the house.
Hung said some people have told her they believe the hole is an old well that collapsed or it could be a collapsed coal shaft.
“It’s been a little bit of a wild ride but we’re glad that the home is now vacated and we can seal it up and take care of it,” she said.
The grey cat who was turned over the the Animal Care and Control Centre on Tuesday was microchipped, however, an official told Global News the microchip hasn’t been able to be traced yet because the website to do that was down.
–With files from Global News’ Karen Bartko