Sooty saviour of kitten that got stuck in a chimney
AN RSPCA inspector got his hands and everything else dirty rescuing a kitten trapped eight feet up a chimney for four days.
Matt Brown ended up covered in soot after helping to bring Lola down from her hiding place.
Her worried owner initially thought she had gone missing but contacted the RSPCA after hearing crying noises from inside the chimney.
Lola had only recently been adopted and, feeling timid in her new home, it is believed she sought a place to hide behind the fireplace.
She then somehow managed to climb inside the chimney of the house in Liverpool and was finally freed after a four-hour operation between the RSPCA and Merseyside Fire Service.
Rescuers first climbed on to the roof where they poked rods down the chimney to try to free her before removing the fireplace and coaxing her down using long poles. Mr Brown said: ‘By the time we got her out we were completely covered in soot, but getting her safely freed was worth a dirty uniform.
‘She came out looking bedraggled and dazed. It took some time but we were all so pleased to have her free.’
Lola was taken to the RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital to be checked over before going home. The rescue was filmed by Channel 5’s The Kitten Rescuers which will feature it later this year.