Mumbai: Cat trapped for eight days inside Byculla flat rescued by cops and activists

MUMBAI: A local juvenile cat which had somehow got trapped inside a locked flat at Victoria Terrace building in Byculla for over eight days was successfully rescued by the local police personnel and animal activists recently.
Elated animal lovers can't thank enough the local authorities who went out of their way to painstakingly remove the trapped cat through a small mesh opening of the locked flat.
"I stay on the first floor of Victoria Terrace building, while the cat had become trapped inside a second floor apartment. I could hear incessantly loud mewing sounds from inside this flat, and hence urged the local municipal officials, fire brigade to help me in rescuing the poor cat which had become rather nervous," said a local resident, Mumtaz Shaikh.
However, she added that even after the fire brigade personnel contacted the female owner of the locked flat in suburban Mumbai, she reportedly refused to immediately come to the site to open her flat for the cat's rescue.
Many animal rights activists from PETA India and individuals like, Hoshang Billimoria also tried to reach out to the locked flat's owner through police, but no solution was found.
"For over a week, I kept feeding the terrified cat through the mesh opening. The Byculla police officials also came to the spot to themselves confirm the presence of the cat inside. I thank all of them, especially a lady activist from Panvel, who kept communicating with me every day to discuss various ways to rescue the animal," said Shaikh.
Finally, by August 27, a few police personnel from Byculla lured the cat to come near the small opening of the flat with food, and then very carefully managed to catch it so that it could be safely removed from the house.
The relieved cat immediately sprinted away as soon as its paws hit the ground.
"When I thanked the cops for helping in rescuing the cat, they humbly told me that they were just doing their duty, and that they all actually felt nice and happy to see that the cat was free again," added Shaikh.
She however added, "I feel that if the owner of the locked flat had cooperated with the authorities in the beginning, then the cat could have been rescued without causing so much anxiety and worry. We had also tried to tell her that in case the animal had died inside, it can lead to an offense under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960."