Animal Service Officers Rescue Cat Hanging Out On 91 Freeway
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — Riverside County Animal Services Officers had been receiving "frantic" calls for several days about a black cat perched along a center divider on the 91 Freeway.
Animal Services Spokesperson John Welsh said any time officers went to investigate, the cat was no where to be found.
Officers Tiffany Fuller and Jenny Selter, along with an additional colleague doing an educational ride along, managed to locate the feline just before noon Saturday. Officer Selter found the cat relaxing underneath the Van Buren Boulevard Bridge.
"Part of the trouble was, we had been getting calls in the morning during rush hour, so we think the slow-moving motorists had better views of the cat," Officer Fuller said. "When we were able to roll out to try to find the cat, speeds had picked up and we couldn't see the black cat in the dark shadows underneath the bridge."
The officers said today's rescue could not have happened without the "excellent help" of two California Highway Patrol officers. The CHP officers conducted a traffic break, giving the animal control officers a good opportunity to safely get the cat out of her precarious location.
"We have no idea how she got there," Fuller said. "But we're thinking she was sure smart enough not to leave that spot once she got there."
Registered Veterinary Technician Tonya Ornelas examined the 3-year-old cat -- thought she might be a bit dehydrated -- and treated her with fluids.
The cat -- described as "a sweetie pie" by officers -- is doing very well.
Officers named her "Vanity," a play on words from where she was found (underneath the Van Buren Boulevard) and, wrote Welsh, "because she was quite vain to sit there, similar to a queen on a throne, waiting for her rescue to transpire."
If an owner does not come to claim Vanity, she will be sent to one of Animal Control's adoption partners, Welsh wrote.