Callers jam 911 when video shows cat atop utility pole
After a Phoenix television station puts live video of a cat stuck atop a utility pole on Facebook, the area’s emergency 911 system gets flooded with calls. Phoenix Fire Department dispatchers’ activities nearly came to a “screeching halt” Monday morning amid an avalanche of emergency calls regarding the cat, according to officials.
A Phoenix TV station put live video of a cat stuck atop a power pole on Facebook, and the area’s emergency 911 system was flooded with unwanted calls, officials say.
Phoenix Fire Department dispatchers’ activities nearly came to a “screeching halt” Monday morning amid an avalanche of emergency calls regarding the cat, according to officials.
The black and white feline named Gypsy was rescued by a neighbor just before 11 a.m., but not before her plight drew attention from across the country.
About 10 a.m., Phoenix ABC affiliate Channel 15 posted a live feed of the cat from its Facebook page, drawing more than 319,000 views in the following hour. By 11 a.m., the video had been shared 8,775 times and received 96 comments.
Many of the commenters encouraged people to call the Fire Department.
The TV station reported that neighbors living in the area of 37th Avenue and Bethany Home Road said the cat had been atop the pole since Friday.
Jenny Hardin and Ash Morgan, Gypsy’s owners, said they learned about their cat’s ordeal on Facebook Live. They didn’t think she had been stuck up there that long, but it’s possible, they said: “She comes and goes.”
Before Gypsy made it down, 911 dispatchers fielded at least 100 calls demanding a rescue unit, according to Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade. Callers hailed from the Phoenix area, as well as from New Jersey, Ohio and Florida.
“We love animals,” McDade said, adding that Phoenix fire officials frequently rescue pets from fires, storm drains and trees. “But while (callers) feel that there might be very justified in their emotional response, we have human lives we have to save at the same time.”
McDade said that because dispatchers are required to answer every call, people with medical emergencies were forced to wait on the phone.
Officials from the Salt River Project utility company were tasked with rescuing the cat, McDade said. They are the ones qualified to handle live power poles, and removing animals and other objects from them.
The Phoenix fire alarm room fields calls for 17 Phoenix-area cities, and is notoriously understaffed.
Jeff Lane, a spokesman for SRP, said a resident climbed a ladder and got the cat down before the company’s troubleshooter could arrive. Lane said the troubleshooter talked to the neighbor about the dangers of taking such a matter into his own hands.