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Cat survives long slide down frozen dam spillway

Posted at 1:16 PM, Jan 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-21 13:16:31-05

HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. – Two members of the Army Corps of Engineers rescued a cat thatfound itself stranded on an Indiana spillway on Wednesday.

The Huntington County Sheriff’s Office says it’s unknown how the feline got there, because there’s no way to access the area, but it’s possible it had fallen off of State Road 5 or was thrown off.

“The cat was clearly in distress and retreated to the very top of the spillway area and lodged itself in the metal structure,” the sheriff’s office said.

There wasn’t an easy way to access the cat, so crews decided get a boat out and try to coax the animal down.

“It was decided it was worth a shot to attempt the help the cat versus doing nothing,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

After about an hour, Ryan Martin and Jared Perrott with the Army Corps of Engineers were able to shut the water off and launch the boat. When the boat reached the spillway, the cat came out of the structure it was hiding in, slid the entire way down and the rescuers were able to grab the animal before it hit the water.

One woman commented on the Facebook post claiming to be the owner. She says, "Mr. Vanjie is safe and sound! He has been missing for almost 2 weeks."

"I’d truly like to thank the Huntington County Sheriff Department and the rescuers from the Army Corp of Engineers who saved our beloved cat! He is an inside-outside cat we took in when he landed on our doorstep a little over a year ago. We are very thankful to have him home! He is exhausted!"