Missing cat found from a ditch close to house in Bandra

The cat Sultan with his owner Ally Hasan

The five-year-old Persian cat named ‘Sultan', who was missing from one of Bandra's posh areas found after eight days from inside a gutter. Around 10 fire brigade officials rescued the cat and handed him to the owner on Wednesday evening.

The owner of the cat, identified as, Ally Hasan, a IT professional and resident of Mimi building at 1st Cross road in Bandra West. The cat fell in gutter hole on November 20. Hasan had registered a missing complaint with the Bandra police station.

After Sultan went missing, Hasan printed more than 500 pamphlets and stuck them in different areas in Bandra and Khar. In the pamphlet Hasan also mentioned a reward amount of Rs 5,000 for the finder.

Speaking with mid-day, Hasan said, "On November 20 Sultana was fighting with another female cat at resident and then he left home. Later, he fell down into a 4ft-deep gutter hole just outside our house. We printed more than 500 pamphlets and stuck them on SV road and all the buildings in our area. My entire family was upset after Sultan went missing. We were desperately searching for him." Someone also misguided Hasan saying that a bag-seller told them about someone lifting Sultan on a bike at the Globus signal. The bag seller told them that the person said that he will keep him in an ashram in Kalina. "Later we searched him in many ashrams and animal hospitals but we didn't locate him. I also registered a missing complaint about Sultan. We also took the police's help and searched the area's CCTV footage to spot the person who lifted the cat but we didn't find anything," Hasan added.

"Then a few days back, an animal lover in our area, Sana, spotted a tail of a cat in the gutter just outside my building and she informed an NGO at Bandra," Hasan said.

NGO head Amit Pathak said, "We rushed to the spot and with the help of 10 fire brigade officials, we opened all the gutter cover and rescued the cat after 4 hours. Then we handed over the cat to the owner."

Amit Pathak further said, "Most of the time such animals, if they missed their residence, they try to hide and find shelter in the drainage line. It's too dangerous to rescue then because if they see someone, they try to run in the drainage line and if their face gets stuck in it, it difficult to rescue them."

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