Community rallies together for cat rescue

HAZEL PARK — Alissa Sullivan was getting back in her car after pet sitting for a client of her pet care company when she looked up at the power cables and saw something she didn’t expect.

Perched on the lines some 20 feet above, silhouetted against the cold winter sky, was a cat that had somehow climbed up there — and was terrified to come back down.

“I thought it was a giant squirrel at first,” said Sullivan, who is also a member of the Hazel Park City Council. “I’m like, that doesn’t look right. So I got out my phone and zoomed in and I said, ‘That is a cat!’ You don’t expect to see a cat that high up in the air.”

The cat — a female believed to be about 1-2 years old, based on the condition of its teeth — was clearly in a state of distress.

“When she was up on the line, when I started talking to her, she was reacting to me and meowing at me, following me along the cables, but she couldn’t figure out how to get down. I knew she was at least human-friendly to some extent, because a wild cat or a feral cat would just ignore me and run away,” Sullivan said.

It was Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the Hazel Park Animal Shelter was closed. Sullivan contacted the Hazel Park Fire Department, DTE Energy, as well as two friends and fellow residents of the city: Deanne Iovan, executive director of the Ferndale Cat Shelter, and Mike Toma, the head arborist at Innovative Tree Services.

Toma brought his climbing harness and boots with spikes attached to them. The harness strapped around the telephone pole, and the spikes on the boots provided footing as he climbed.

“He got up there and talked to her, and she kinda looked at him,” Sullivan recalled. “He said, ‘I’m gonna grab her,’ and he grabbed her by the scruff. I was waiting for them with the carrier when he got back down, and we locked her up real fast.”

Toma added, “I’ve done a lot of drone rescues, but not many cat rescues. I’ve done a couple cat rescues from trees before, but not power lines. In my experience, they don’t want you to get them; they’re not happy about their situation. But this cat seemed happy to be coming down.

“I brought a duffel bag with some sweaters in it to collect her if she was freaking out, but the cat just put her arms around me and was perfectly fine,” he said. “She still had to come a ways to reach me, but she did that, and just clung to me as we climbed down.”

Sullivan was asked to name the cat and decided on “Birdie,” a nod to Bird Millman, a female tightrope walker from the early 1900s.

“I thought it was fitting for two reasons,” Sullivan said. “One, that cat was literally a bird on a wire that day, and two, she is a circus kitty — and who doesn’t love a circus kitty?”

Birdie was treated for fleas and tested negative for feline leukemia virus. She was also given her starter vaccines, spayed, and scanned for a chip to see if she had an owner.

Iovan, at the Ferndale Cat Shelter, 686 Livernois St., then took her as a stray hold. Since then, Birdie has been adopted by a New Baltimore family.

“Just the sweetest, gentlest cat — so sweet, just so sweet,” Iovan said of Birdie. “I pity the person who let her out of their house, because she had obviously lived with someone at some point — she’s just so loving, and just so friendly. Everyone who works here fell in love with her. And she got adopted within a week, really. There are no laws in Michigan requiring a stray hold, but we do it as a courtesy in case someone steps forward.”

Sullivan said she is heartened by how the community rallied together to save the cat that day.

The Ferndale Cat Shelter, located at 686 Livernois St., is a nonprofit rescue specializing in cats. It also operates The Catfe Lounge — a large room where the cats roam freely, and guests can mingle with them. It’s a way for potential adopters to see if there’s a connection, as well as a way for families to see if their kids have allergies. For some visitors who are unable to keep cats at home, it’s also a way to enjoy their company. Those who want to support the rescue can make donations at ferndalecatshelter.org, or search for “Ferndale Cat Shelter” at chewy.com to find its wish list for supplies.

“And I think the fact that it happened on MLK Day, which is a national day of service, is such a fitting testament to how kindness goes so far,” Sullivan said.

Toma agreed, and praised Sullivan for setting the rescue operation in motion.

“Alissa is the true hero of this story,” he said. “Our city is so blessed to have her.”