- Date posted: 19th July 2024
Trapped cat rescued at St Paul's Cathedral
After her fall, Paula had a graze to her chin, but no broken bones.
The RSPCA has rescued a cat who became trapped in a basement below St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
On 2 July, a teenager who had been playing in the churchyard after school saw the Burmese cat dart through a narrow gap underneath a concrete slab. Worried about the cat, she contacted the RSPCA.
Animal rescue officer Sidonie Smith attended from the charity, and the on-site security team gave her permission to search for the cat. Accompanied by a security officer, she went down to an old storage basement that had not been used for 25 years.
Ms Smith said: “There were some steep, narrow stairs down and it was pitch black where you entered a large chamber, which had lots of corridors attached to it at higher levels.
“Fortunately, the cat had fallen onto a bed of leaves and she was largely unscathed. She’d shot through the gap above and dropped down into the basement. She was very nervous and frightened, no doubt through the shock of falling from height, and I had to grasp hold of her.
“I leaned on the chute to reach up to the spot where she landed. She was covered in fleas and she had a slight graze on her chin, but, happily, nothing was broken and she was able to move around.”
The cat was taken to RSPCA Finsbury Park Animal Hospital for treatment. Staff at the hospital named the cat after the cathedral where she was found, calling her Paula.
She was found to have a microchip and the registered owner was contacted. However, he told the RSPCA he had sold the cat four years ago. The charity then put up a number of ‘found’ posters around St Paul’s, but no owner was found.
Paula is now set to be moved to RSPCA Leybourne Animal Centre in Kent, where she will be looked after as she waits for somebody to adopt her.
Image © RSPCA