Recent rescue pet praised by community
TEHKUMMAH—Ivy the cat is being thanked as one of those responsible for the rescue of Tehkummah Reeve Eric Russell from a precarious situation late last month that found his arm entangled in his garage’s overhead door.
Reeve Russell told The Expositor that he was working on the pulley of his garage’s overhead door when screws in the spring came loose, causing the door to come sailing down on him as he was perched on a ladder. The reeve was pinned with his arm ensnared in the door 13 feet up.
“I began to call for help, I couldn’t move,” he said.
“Mary Johnston’s cat got agitated and alerted her to me,” Mr. Russell added.
Mr. Russell called for help between 10 to 15 minutes before Ms. Johnston, a neighbour, found him.
“I was sitting in my chair reading, and when I read I become very engrossed in my book, I don’t hear a thing,” Ms. Johnston explained. “Ivy was on the couch near me, where she always is when I’m reading, when she heard Eric. She jumped from the couch to the window, to the couch, to the window again and then on top of me.”
Ms. Johnston said she listened and heard a noise that sounded like an angry cat coming from outside. She headed outside and determined the sound to becoming from the Russell garage and headed in for a look. There she found the reeve stuck 13 feet up, asking her for help.
Ms. Johnston called Betty Russell and the two of them found additional help through Don McMurray and Bob Beard, who got him free.
The ambulance was also called and eventually took Reeve Russell to the Manitoulin Health Centre in Mindemoya where his dislocated shoulder was popped back into place. The reeve has also suffered some nerve damage, but he’s just happy he’s around to recover, even though he’ll have to take it easy.
“Everything is good—more time for politics,” he laughed.
As for Ivy, she came to Ms. Johnston just a few short weeks ago as a rescue from Fixing our Felines in Manitowaning, one of two cats (her sister’s name is Nellie, a half Siamese).
“I guess she’s earned her keep?” this reporter asked.
“I’d say so,” Ms. Johnston responded.
Numerous members of the Russell family have popped in to say thank you to Ms. Johnston and Ivy, including the reeve himself, who dropped off a thank you card that included a gift certificate to a pet store for Ivy. Ms. Johnston used that gift certificate to buy Ivy and Nellie a cat tree, which they are enjoying thoroughly.
To adopt your very own rescue cat, contact Fixing our Felines on Facebook or contact Colleen Caselton, 705-859-2172, or Mallory Harasym, 705-822-2915, in Manitowaning.
