Dear Editor:
On Aug. 3, our dear cat and best friend suffered a cruel and inhumane death. She was a very loving
and happy cat who did not deserve to suffer the way she did.
We woke up at 3 a.m., along with our neighbours to hear a vicious creature (which turned out to be three raccoons) attacking Precious. She was sleeping peacefully and then the three raccoons cornered her and bit her ear off They chased her to the front of our house and Precious, being disoriented and hurt, tried to save her life. She climbed to the top of the telephone pole in front of our house.
Little did she know that that pole was equipped with live wires. If Precious moved, she would be electrocuted and die. By the time we found her, she looked restless, and we knew that she wanted to get down. It was around 4 a.m. now, and we were searching for ways to get her down.
We called B.C. Hydro and asked them if they could help us or if they knew a way to get her down, but they said that "it wasn't in their policy to help." Their form of help was suggesting that we shake a bag of treats at the bottom of the pole and hope she doesn't hit a wire.
We want to see B.C. Hydro change their policy and at least have a heart or a helping hand for animals who are helpless and stuck.
Our next option was to contact the Burnaby Fire Department. You always see in cartoons where the cat gets stuck in the tree and the fireman comes to the rescue and saves the innocent cat. What happened to that? They said that they are very sorry and that it too, is not in their "policy" to help animals that get stuck in places, specifically on top of telephone poles.
My father has a paper route so we called him and told him he needed to get home right away after he was done so we could try and catch her because that was the only option we had left.
My mom and I laid in the living room facing the pole she was stuck on so we could keep an eye on her. My mom was half asleep, but I was wide awake worrying and watching her.
Once I closed my eyes and it was silent I heard it. I heard my cat and best friend be electrocuted, and I saw the two flashes as she hit the wires.
My mom and I both sprinted down the stairs praying that what we saw wasn't true and that this was all a bad dream. But when we went outside we saw her lying on the ground, dead. She was shocked twice so there was no hope that she could have survived. She suffered an excruciating death filled with severe pain.
Precious was only eight when she died. I got her for Christmas in 2004 when she was seven months old. In our family she was known as the Christmas kitty. She loved to knock over our Christmas tree and rip off the decorations. She was there every year on Christmas morning opening up our presents with us. She loved to eat my homework and hide in boxes. She was the best cat anyone could ask for. She will be greatly missed and forever loved.
B. Love and family, Burnaby
