Social media has fueled revolutions, raised money for victims of tragedies and on Wednesday - it helped save the life of a cat.
Thanks to the powers of Facebook, an orange and white tabby was rescued from the post office on 14th Street in San Leandro, which was left to starve and bake in the sun.
“I’m not a big fan of Facebook,” said Ken Carbone, owner of Dolphin Graphics in Castro Valley, whose employee, Bebe Duarte, began posting urgent pleas on the social media site to help get the cat down off the roof. “But today, something hugely positive came of it.”
As the story of the cat saga unfolds, a Facebook friend of Duarte’s posted on her page three days ago that she noticed a cat stranded on top of the post office across the street from where she lives.
“You can’t just leave a living animal on the roof,” Duarte said. And the promotions director jumped into action. By 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, she had contacted media outlets – by Facebook, of course – about the cat, after she said she called police, fire and animal control services for help with no success.
She also used Facebook’s instant messaging system to contact a graphics client, Doc Bailey Construction Equipment, Inc., in Oakland. “Will you get this kitty down from a roof?” she asked.
And within a half hour, a truck with a bucket crane was rolling to the post office.
“We were happy to help,” said the crane’s rental manager, Larry Hall.
All the while, the folks from Dolphin Graphics took photos, and Robert Souza, the editor of CastroValleyTV.com, who was nearby, made a video of the rescue.
Before noon, the cat was off the roof, and whisked away to Dr. Andrew Moffett, another client of Dolphin Graphics and a veterinarian at Groveway Vet Hospital in Castro Valley.
At no charge, Moffett checked out the cat, gave it a shot and gave it a clean bill of health. Best of all, he discovered the cat had a chip in its neck, which allowed the volunteer team of cat rescuers to call its owner, who Duarte said was apparently “over the moon” about the discovery.
Souza provided the YouTube video embedded below:
(Video courtesy Robert Souza / San Leandro TV)
