Animal Control Report: Flight of Pigeons, Dramatic Cat Rescue

Animal Control officers in Alexandria deal with a variety of calls every week. Here's a glance at some recent incidents in the city courtesy of Patrick Cole, the director of communications and outreach at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.

Pesky pigeons — An Alexandria resident was asked to release a flight of pigeons being held in the 200 block of S. Jenkins Street.

On April 9, an Alexandria Animal Control found more than a dozen pigeons in a coup and others were scattered across rooftops in the West End after responding to a complaint about the birds.

The resident of the home told the officer the birds belonged to a family member and used to be housed in Fairfax County.

The officer told the resident the pigeons were considered livestock fowl in Alexandria and are not permitted. The resident was given 30 days to comply.

Cat rescue — An animal control officer staged a tough-yet-successful rescue of a cat from a deep window well in the 5500 block of N. Morgan Street.

On April 5, and Animal Control officer was called to assist a stressed, but uninjured cat trapped in a 12-foot deep window well.

The officer attempted to rescue the cat by lowering an extension pole into the pit, though it was soon determined the depth of the well and the weight of the cat made this attempt unsafe.

The officer noticed a window at the bottom of the window well and used the pole to knock on it. When a resident appeared in the window, the officer motioned for the resident to meet outside.

The officer was then admitted into the resident’s apartment, but soon found a rescue was impossible due to the location of the window. The officer then climbed through the window and entered the well with the cat.

Following a few minutes of coaxing, the officer was able to capture the cat and place it in a net. The handle of the net was passed to the cat’s owner, who was standing at ground level and the cat was safely removed from the well.

The officer was not able to re-enter the window that was used to access the well but used a rope to climb out of the pit.

For more information about Alexandria Animal Control, visit the AWLA website.