Evgeny Rubtsov from the Leningrad region could have called the brigade and gone home after his shift, but decided to check the incoming call from an elderly woman.
Evgeny works as an investigator in the department of supervision and preventive work of the city of Sosnovy Bor. When he was inspecting the site of a fire in one of the local horticultural establishments, a pensioner asked for help at the dispensary. A cat got stuck in a deep inspection pit in the garage.
- I was just finishing my inspection and was about to leave. I decided first to see for myself how critical the situation is, so as not to drive the entire fire brigade once again, 10 years of service in the fire department gave me a lot of experience, - said Evgeny Rubtsov.
- I arrived at the place, found a woman, she took me to the garage, and there was an observation pit, a ladder welded from rebar, at the bottom of the water about shin-deep, the steps were narrowly positioned to each other, between the third and fourth steps there was a cat's head and front paws sticking out, the back of the body in the water. The cat was shivering all over, it was cold, the beginning of spring, the snow was melting.
The cat could not get out on his own, he would have to plunge deeper, but there was no strength left. The helpless ginger was no longer even mewing, but wheezing. Apparently he spent a long time in cold water. The hostess could not go downstairs herself, the woman walks badly, the son works at a secure facility, phones are prohibited. There is no one to turn to for help.
- I did not call the firemen, and it was impossible to delay, I changed my clothes, took the jack out of the car, inserted it between the steps and began to swing up, rocking it additionally with a tire iron, - Evgeny Rubtsov continues his story.
- After he got the cat, we brought him into the house and began to warm him first in water at room temperature, then a little warmer. They wiped him with a towel, dried him, the owner of the ginger fed him, he calmed down. I tell the hostess, your cat is so beautiful, and she answers me, they say there is no one to keep an eye on him, they live in the city, they come to the cottage on weekends, and I offered to take him to myself," says the investigator.
Now the handsome red-haired man is called Peach, now he is three years old. And he became a full-fledged member of the Rubtsov family. That's how the story of saving the cat ended with finding a new home for ginger.
Photo from the personal archive of Evgeny Rubtsov.