Cat rescued from storm drain at UBC Okanagan

A young cat was rescued from a storm drain at UBC Okanagan on Saturday afternoon.

Kathy Manuel, security communications coordinator for UBCO, told Global News, she received reports from students saying they were hearing meows coming from a storm drain on campus.

Manuel dispatched security to the area and confirmed a cat was stuck inside.

“We have feral cats around, so we weren’t sure how many were in there at first,” said Manuel.

The Kelowna Fire Department and the city’s animals control services were all called to the scene.

“It was very deep, where the cat was. It was a confined space, making it difficult to rescue,” said Manuel.

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Given how tight the tunnel of the storm drain was, the fire department couldn’t fit inside to pull the cat out. Manuel says, crews flooded the storm drain with their hose and and had a net ready at the top to grab the cat as it came out.

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After three and a half hours, the cat was rescued and brought to safety.

Manuel said the cat appeared to be uninjured, just very wet from being in the storm drain.

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She estimated the cat may have been stuck in the drain for about three days, as some students say they began hearing meows a few days ago, but no one was able to determine where it was coming from.

Animal control took the cat to the SPCA, where the society will look for its owners, if it has any.

In a social media post, the SPCA said the cat is a young intact male, black and white, with no ID.If anyone knows where this cat belongs, contact the Kelowna SPCA at 250-861-7722.