As floodwaters rose across Mooroopna, a friendly local feline was stuck in a house with nowhere to go for three days.
But a Mooroopna Bottle-O staff member proved to be the cat’s saviour.
Homeowner Trisha Ford said she put a call-out on Facebook as she was made aware that one of her tenant’s cats became trapped in one of her houses last Sunday night.
Ms Ford runs Trisha Living Well Solutions which provides rental properties to people with a disability.
After an evacuation order was issued, her tenant left in a rush, accidentally leaving his cat behind in the chaos.
“He was told to evacuate and I guess in the rush and stress he didn’t take the kitten with him,” Ms Ford said.
So through the power of social media, and over 200 comments later, Mooroopna resident and Bottle-O team member Jenny Vickery saw the call-out and kayaked her way to the rescue.
“I was looking at our shop which was a mini island at the time and then I saw my boss tagged me in the Facebook post and as a lover of animals and having done many animal rescues before, I said why not,” Ms Vickery said.
So with help of Mooroopna residents with a 4WD, she was able to get into the house and bring the cuddly feline back to the Bottle-O safely.
“I kayaked as best I could and so with the help of a few guys in a 4WD, I was able to get to the house and I got inside and found the poor cat scared and very hungry,” she said.
“I put him in a box and brought him to the store and gave it some beef jerky which it enjoyed considering not having any food for a few days.”
Ms Vickery is an animal lover, herself an owner of two dogs and two cats, a bunny and stick insects.
She has done multiple rescues during the floods, including checking in on her neighbours.
“I did a few dog and bird rescues during the flooding situation but also looked out for some of our elderly neighbours by getting them bread and milk,” Ms Vickery said.
“It was a massive effort by all of Mooroopna in helping where we could during the flooding,” she said.
For the tenant, Ms Ford said he and his mum were ecstatic to have the cat saved, but also to have the house untouched from the floodwaters.
“When I called them to tell him and his mum that the cat was saved but also the house was safe as well, they were brought to tears of joy and it gave me goosebumps,” Ms Ford said.
As for the hero, Ms Vickery, she will continue to help with the clean-up around Mooroopna and is thinking about pursing a volunteer role in animal wildlife rescue.
“I will continue the clean-up as my sister’s home was flooded, but for animal volunteering in the future I might give it a think,” she said.