With his bare feet, a trainee inspector from the Cape of Good Hope SPCA last week fearlessly climbed up to the top of a 25 metre tall, giant of a tree in Belgravia to rescue a kitten.
Lindo Mbele did not waver to scale the tree where the kitten found herself stuck on after clambering up it the previous night.
“No amount of coaxing could bring her down. The kitten, in clear distress, was almost at the top, essentially trapped and hanging on for dear life,” says SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abrahams.
The family called on the SPCA for help in the early hours of Monday morning (3 July).
“When our trainee inspector arrived, the pitiful meowing he could hear drove him to action. Surveying the tree, and estimating the branch placement on the way to the top, he felt confident he would be able to climb it,” says Abrahams.
Mbele says he observed the tree and concluded that he could climb it as there were many branches to use as footholds.
“But I would have to do it barefoot. I also knew I wouldn’t be able to climb up with a cat carrier because I needed both my hands free.”
And so he emptied his backpack to use as a makeshift carrier and removed his socks and shoes to ensure the best possible grip on the branches.
It took Mbele about 25 minutes to reach the kitten.
“She needed some convincing to come to me and even more to get her in my bag. I climbed down slowly because I needed to keep checking on her. I was in the tree for over an hour but it was worth it when I was able to give her back to the family who love her. Aside from being hungry, thirsty and cold, the little kitten was surprisingly unscathed,” he says.
