Fleeing dogs, she fell in hole that city then filled

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Friday, June 01, 2007
KENT FAULK, News staff writer

Members of an animal rescue group dug through the night to rescue a cat that had fallen into a sinkhole and then was buried alive by Centreville city workers.

The tan-and-black cat that hung around the Centreville neighborhood apparently was a stray. But she has a temporary home now in a veterinary office and a name - Talitha Koum.

The name comes from Mark 5:41, in which a girl arises from the dead after Jesus says, "Talitha koum," or, as interpreted in the New International Version of the Bible, "Little girl, I say to you, get up."

"I think if miracles happen, one just did," said Terra Cotromano, director of The Emergency Animal Rescue Service, in Birmingham. "It's just amazing that the kitty cat lived."

Cotromano explained what happened:

TEARS got a call Tuesday night from a Centreville resident, Sandra Miller, about a cat that had fallen into a 12- to 14-foot-deep sinkhole along the edge of Owens Road while fleeing an attack by two dogs. Workers from the group got there and couldn't get the cat out of the sinkhole; she had crawled into a side tunnel created by an old water line.

Question of safety:

Centreville's fire chief told TEARS the sinkhole would have to be filled because of public safety concerns.

Two TEARS workers, James Taylor and Adam Carter, worked until 2 a.m. Wednesday, then stopped for the night and left a trap attached to the end of a rope at the bottom of the sinkhole. The two men went back later in the morning, but they still couldn't get the cat out. They came close - at one point even getting their hands on her.

They left to buy a shovel, and when they returned they found their equipment had been pulled from the hole and the sinkhole had been filled.

A few hours later, Cotromano was thinking the cat could still be alive in an air pocket in the side tunnel. So Taylor and Carter went back out and began to dig.

After about five hours, the men heard the cat meow and dug to get more air to her. It took about five more hours of digging to get the hole big enough to get the cat out. The hole eventually ended up about 16 feet deep.

About 3 a.m. Thursday, the cat was rescued.

Also helping during the rescue were Miller, other neighbors and TEARS board Chairman Mike Hall, who came up with Talitha's name.

The cat was checked out at Alabama Veterinary Specialists emergency clinic and later taken to Hope Animal Clinic on Morgan Road near Bessemer, Cotromano said.

Dr. David Fuller, veterinarian at Hope, said the biggest health concern is the possibility of neurological damage from being deprived of oxygen. The cat staggered after it was rescued and its head was tilted slightly, Fuller and Cotromano said. The cat also has several puncture wounds from the dogs' attack and is "very heavily traumatized," Fuller said.

But, he said, "I don't anticipate any permanent damage or injury."

Talitha is in a cat condo inside the clinic under observation. She's a domestic medium hair and appears to be 2 or 3 years old, Fuller said. If she becomes stable enough, TEARS will adopt her out "as an indoor kitty," Cotromano said.

Cotromano said she wishes TEARS had been given more time to get the cat out before the city filled in the sinkhole. But she understands why the fire chief ordered it filled.

"He did his job to protect the public and we did our job to go in and save the cat," Cotromano said.

City officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

UPDATE 6-22-07

TALITHA NOW HOME WITH HER NEW FAMILY, the MILLARS, WHO reported this incident to TEARS and assisted with the rescue. All are doing great and TALITHA is sure to enjoy the 8 remaining lives.