Telecommunications Company Suspends Worker For Using Work Equipment To Rescue Cat

Apr 11, 2019 by apost team

Cat's have a bad habit of placing themselves in precious situations without having an exit strategy.

There is a reason that firefighters have to routinely rescue cats from trees. This habit may result from the animal's independent and adventurous instincts. 

A cat named Momma learned about this reality the hard way. According to CBS, she was exploring around a telephone pole and eventually found herself stuck at the top. With no safe way down, the cat began to frantically call for help.

She was first noticed by a neighbor by the name of Amanda Fairchild Boyce. She immediately recognized the cat and alerted the owners who lived nearby.

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The incident occurred at roughly 10:30 on Friday night. Her owners started frantically calling the local fire department and animal rescue organizations. Unfortunately, nobody was willing to help rescue the poor cat.

The owners were astonished at the reactions they received from firefighters and animal rights activists. Momma had to stay stuck on the telephone pole overnight.

Sandy McLeish, another loyal neighbor, was finally able to find help the following day. At this point, the cat had been waiting patiently on the telephone pole for over twelve hours. As an activist for animal rights, McLeish went above-and-beyond to find a solution to the problem.

She came up with the idea of finding an employee with access to equipment that could reach Momma. She was eventually able to find Steve German, a man who works for Verizon. He agreed to help the owners for no reward or compensation.

The daring rescue was captured on video by Steve Lindsay, a reporter for the local CBS Philly station. Although most people would expect the company to be pleased with German's heroic actions, they responded in a surprising way.

Instead of heralding their employee's kind act, the company suspended him for three weeks. Rich Young a spokesperson for Verizon told CBS: 

“Unfortunately, while this employee’s goal was admirable, he potentially put his life and those around him in jeopardy,” 

“While our actions may not be popular, it’s in the best interest of our employees and the communities we serve.”

A GoFundMe page was started by the local community to help Steve German. They were able to surpass their goal after two days.

The community also prepared some social media posts to spread the news about German's heroic deeds and Verizon's reaction. The video can be seen on a variety of news outlets and social media platforms.

What do you think of German's actions? Would you have done the same? Do you think the company's reaction was justifiable? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!