My name is Crystal Hagen, I live in Snohomish and work at Cross View Church. I needed to take our cat Phoebe to the vet this past week, so brought her to work with me. I set her up in the car with food, water and windows cracked for air. At lunch, I went to take her home, and could not find her. She had crawled under the driver’s seat. However, she had also stuck her paw into the sliding mechanism that moves the seat backward and forward. I tried to gently tug her paw out, but she made it very clear that hurt.
I decided to call the fire department. Cliché, yes, but I did not know what else to do. I dialed 911 and was told that usually fire departments do not rescue cats, that only happens in movies. But the dispatcher promised she would pass on the request. It would then be up to the watch commander whether or not to send a crew to rescue Phoebe. Because of her response, I did not expect the fire department to show up. In the meantime, I called Accurate Auto Service in Snohomish, and asked for Paul, the owner. Paul said he would “grab some tools and be right there.” Paul and the fire department arrived within five minutes.
The firefighters — Whitney Mansfield, Karl Jacobson and CJ Ericson — along with Paul, unbolted the seat, lifted it out and were able to wriggle Phoebe’s paw free from the mechanism it was trapped in. They handed Phoebe to me, put the car seat back into the car and bolted it in place. Then they all returned to their jobs, each refusing payment and modestly deflecting my heart-felt thank yous.
Thank you so much to all these kind gentlemen.
Crystal Hagen
Snohomish
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