From: PAGLI Ace Reporter

As most of you know, I allow my servant, Mr G, to organize most of the postings on this lovely blog but every so often I like to add my contribution.

I was particulary interested by a news item I saw this week as I was peeking at my servant’s  i-pad. It came from the Manchester Guardian (or Guardian as it likes to call itself these day.

A very nice lady, Lucy Campbell wrote about a feline friend of mine who became responsible for a  major incident on the upper part of Euston Station (a place where trains depart and arrive in the north part of London centre).

My feline friend (who looks a little bit like me, though I was tucked up at home) decided to go walkabout. This was on Tuesday evening. Said cat was spotted within a whisker away from hitching a 125mph ride up th’north. The dear friend was spotted  curled up on top of an Avanti West Coast train just half an hour before it was due to depart for Manchester at 9pm . Other cats reading this will know that once a dear pussy cat finds itself causing inconvenience to humans, no amount of persuasion is going to shift them/ us.

The train was therefore taken out of service and a replacement train found. It was then hoped that the cat might be coaxed to alight (with or without ticket).

Passengers detrained to a new train, whilst employees of the railway company encouragd the dear pussy cat to leave her precarious perch, perilously close the the 25,000 volt overhead lines. This took two and a half hours of standoff. It all came to an end when a bin was pulled up beside the carriage, giving the animal a platform on which to disembark.

The feline appeared unbothered as it alighted the train, according to station staff, who described it as “swaggering off” into the night as though it had other places to be.

Naturally it was just resting between two evening engagements.

When I told this story with some glee to one of my servants he reminded me that the safety of the cat was in the end thanks to some good and kind human beings. Despite all the trouble, caused the welfare of the cat was of paramount importance . It should be jolly grateful for the milk of human kindness flowing from them (not that the cat wouldn’t have minded a saucer of the other kind!.)

My servant tells me that this is a heartwarming tale showing humans in a lovely light.  It also showed, he says, that many people love animals and will do much to keep them safe and cared for. How lovely that is, he says. The more such kindness flows around our world, what a loving and better place it will be.

Of course, I gave three purrs to that!.

• Uncategorized