A much-loved family cat had a lucky escape when it was saved by staff at a S Norton site after being alerted it was missing.

Site Manager Chris Bossons with Hope the cat.

 

Animal-loving staff at the Manchester-based metals recycler saved a family cat from their shredder site after the owner alerted them that her pet was missing. Bekky Barber was unaware her six-year-old cat called Hope had climbed into the engine compartment of her old Citroen Picasso before it was taken to S Norton & Co’s site at Trafford Park.

The cat leapt out when an employee opened the bonnet giving him the ‘fright of his life’ before going into hiding. Bekky initially thought the animal who jumped out was a stray but realised her mistake as soon as she got home to find Hope missing. As well as alerting the team at the yard, she called local cat catcher Debra Carter who laid four traps.

After seven days of checking the traps, staff found Hope who, while a bit oily was otherwise unscathed.

Site foreman Chris Bossons commented: “One of the lads was taking [vehicle] details and the cat jumped out when he lifted the bonnet. It scared the life out of him! They were all asked to look out for the black cat and double-check before cars went into the shredder. I kept checking the traps between jobs but it was seven days before I found her meowing in one of them. I immediately rang Debra to tell her and she contacted the owner. We still didn’t know we had the correct cat until Bekky arrived and we knew then by her reaction that this was her cat. It was a great ending to a great story of Hope the missing cat!”

Bekky said: “Two feral cats were caught before they found Hope. It was such a relief. If it wasn’t for Debra and the scrapyard lads who co-operated with her, I don’t think I would have got my cat back.”