A few nights ago I received a call that was reported as an injured cat attacked by a neighbor's pit bulls. The dispatcher relayed that the stray cat was still in the CP's (Calling Party) backyard, injured and unable to move. So I get there and and make contact with the CP. As we walk through her house she tells me that the attack was so horrible that she got video of it on her phone.
Out on her patio I ask her where the dogs live. She points out the next-door neighbor's yard. Then I ask her to show me where the cat is. I'm scanning the lawn and bottom of the fence expecting to find a mauled cat laying there. The CP points up to the top corner of the fence where her other neighbors' yards and hers all meet. My flashlight highlights a pair of glowing eyes. I have a catch pole and a transfer cage ready. The cat let me get right up to the fence and set my cage down, open it and get my pole ready. I do see the blood all over his chest, but otherwise he appeared unharmed. Curious.
With my flashlight between my teeth I slowly get the loop around him and pull the pole wire tight. As expected, he explodes, thrashing snarling and growling. I realize now how much he weighs! A good 20-plus pounds of angry cat on the end of my aluminum pole. I manage to make it look easy lifting him and quite literally stuffing him into my little cage. He's definitely a big brown tabby more closely resembling a tiny cougar. And he's letting me know he is NOT happy with me, sounding more like a full size cougar and wanting to nail me through the wire.
We walk back into the house where I can get a better look at him in the light. I get a closer look at his "injuries." He has none. Well, except a scrape on his nose from fighting me trying to get him in the cage. The blood on his chest isn't coming from him–it's only on the tips of his chest fur, his whiskers and his paws. The CP is relieved that he isn't hurt. I asked the CP what actually happened. Well she has video.
Turns out this little beast was teasing and attacking the two pit bulls next door from the top of the fence. The video shows his big fuzzy cat-butt hanging on the CP's side of the fence. He's got at least one back foot firmly on the horizontal fence board on the CP's side of the fence. His other back foot is propped against the fence for balance and control, his body draped over the top of the fence and his front half leaning over into the dog's side of the fence. You can hear the dogs TRYING to get him. And you can hear them yelp and scream when he IS getting them. And the most devilish thing is you can tell by his swishing tail he is ENJOYING himself! The video was at least 2-3 minutes long. The CP said it actually went on for longer but she was sure that he was going to fall and get torn to shreds by the dogs.
That didn't happen.
I told her she should post the video to YouTube; I hope she does.
The CP didn't want me to take him away. Being a large, healthy, well-fed cat, he did have the looks to belong to someone. She didn't want any of her neighbors to be upset that she had their cat taken away. And she, like everyone assumes, was afraid he would be euthanized. So she had me let him go in her front yard.
I was thinking he would bolt out of there like his tail was on fire. Nope. He slunk over to the base of her tree and in 3 swift leaps was up in the branches. I looked at the CP, definitely regretting letting him go. And she had a similar look. We kind of chuckled about it and look back at the cat who is now perched up on a branch giving us the dagger stare. I mumble something about setting a trap if he isn't gone by morning. The CP smiled nervously and said it would be fine. Meanwhile creepy cat is eyeballing us the whole time. I pick up my now empty cage and take it and my catch pole back to my truck. The CP went back into her house.
I gave one last look back up at the tree as I was about to get into my truck. The beast had now moved to the branch just above my truck and was staring down at me. Creepy.
I look forward to more stories.