KUANTAN, Dec 24 — Many members of Kelab Sahabat Kucing Jalanan Pahang (SJKP) who responded to their club’s appeal to mount a rescue mission had to first hitchhike their way into flood-affected areas, clamber on and off boats before braving waist-deep floodwaters to save four-legged felines from a watery end.

Club chairman Jurina Abdul Rani, 49, said their efforts so far have resulted in 86 rescued cats, including 26 strays housed at a member’s residence in Indera Sempurna here, which was also flooded in the early hours of last Sunday morning.

The remainder were rescued around Bukit Rangin here, and were mostly cats that had to be left behind by their owners when they were forced to evacuate quickly due to fast rising floods. The owners subsequently reached out to SKJP for assistance to rescue their pets.

“We try to save as many as we can, but we are also facing a shortage in manpower as many members are affected by the floods. We also lack suitable assets and had to borrow boats or hitchhike on trucks to enter the inaccessible areas.

“We also received assistance from the Veterinary Department, which provided four-wheel-drive vehicles to make it easier for us to bring out rescued cats, including strays, and house them at SKJP members’ homes,” she said when contacted here today.

According to Jurinah, the cat rescue operation had to be conducted as fast as possible as they could not carry on after 7 pm out of safety concerns due to the lack of light, which was compounded by power outages in flood areas.

Apart from the lack of proper vehicles, they also had insufficient cages to carry the cats, but after their rescue operation became known, the club began receiving calls from cat owners who were not affected by the disaster who offered to lend the club their cages.

Besides rescuing cats trapped in the floods, SKJP also patrolled the flooded areas to feed surviving cats by placing food in high areas that they could access or through windows at houses in accordance to the wishes of some cat owners who were at relief centres.

Based on her experience, Jurinah said cat owners were advised to open their cat’s cage and release the animal indoors, leaving food in higher areas as it would increase the cat’s chances of survival when water levels rose.

“But we understand that many of them were unable to do so due to fast rising floods…in fact in Indera Sempurna, we found three dead cats when we arrived at a location. We couldn’t stand the sight and wept as we carried them out for burial,” she added.

Meanwhile, housewife Azrina Azhar’s sympathy towards the plight faced by pet cats led her to offer to tend to cats belonging to flood evacuees for free to help ease their burden.

The 29-year-old and her husband made a 25-kilometre trip from her house in Gambang Damai to Jaya Gading just to pick up the cats, free of charge. They ended up fostering five cats within two days.

“I was moved and decided to help after imagining the cats’ fate…usually owners would send their cats to cat hotels but this time, I think not many could do so because the flood hit so suddenly,” she said.

Azrina, who posted her free services on Facebook last Sunday, also stated her willingness to prepare food and cat litter if their owner failed to secure the items in their rush to evacuate.

She expressed hope that her effort would help reduce cat deaths as she had read of flood victims returning home to find their pet cats dead or in a state of severe hunger. Having two cats herself, she understood how painful such a situation would be.

“Some ask me how long I could foster the cats and I told them that I would do so till they were really ready to take them home again as they would have a lot of work to do after the floods recede. At least their furry family member is in good hands,” she said with a smile.

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Source: BERNAMA News Agency