How much does it cost to rescue a cat from a roof?

When Teresa Saunders heard a cat crying from the roof of a nearby two-storey building, she did what any animal lover would do, and called the fire brigade, setting in train an episode which gives health and safety a bad name.

Whilst the local fire station at Leiston responded, a turntable ladder was dispatched from Bury St Edmunds (60 miles away), and firefighter crews with specialist training in working at heights were on their way from Bungay (20 miles) and Felixstowe (30 miles). Fortunately, they hadn't got far when one of the Leiston fireman climbed a ladder, retrieved the tabby cat and brought it safely to earth.

So far, so faintly ridiculous. However, it did draw the attention of the Taxpayers' Alliance who, not unreasonably, pointed out what a waste of public money it was (obviously not cat people then). Admittedly, they didn't ask the question, "why send so many fireman to rescue one cat?", but then that might have been too much logical for them to cope with. However, they almost certainly exaggerated the cost of the incident - clearly counting is not always one of their most prominent attributes - given that the various crews would have been being paid anyway.


The award, though, goes to the local Fire Brigades' Union branch chair who claimed that the incident demonstrated that "we need more people to make sure we have enough cover to cope with the demands of the service". No, I think not. What it demonstrates is that sending five crews to rescue one tabby cat is patently absurd.

And the cat, I hear you ask? It ran off as soon as it got down, and was perfectly fine, as far as Ms Saunders could tell...

Hattip to the East Anglian Daily Times for this story...