A cat with an unforgettable face and an even more unforgettable story was finally carried to safety after surviving alone for nearly two months, trapped on the 7th floor of a bombed apartment building just outside of Kyiv, Ukraine.
Ukraine’s emergency services released video of rescue workers saving a cat from the 7th floor of a high-rise apartment building in Borodianka, a war-ravaged suburb of the capital.
According to rescuers, the building had been bombed in early March. Somehow, the cat survived the bombing but had become trapped, alone, for nearly two months without fresh food and water or companionship.
Eugene Kibets, an animal rescuer in Ukraine, enlisted the help of friends and emergency services to rescue the trapped kitty. Because she was so high up, a fire engine had to be brought in from a neighboring city.
When she was rescued, the cat was alive, but, as expected, was in rough shape. She was quickly transported to an animal hospital where it was determined through dental exam that she is at least 10-years old. The cat was given her first real meal in nearly two months, frantically scarfing down the entire contents of the can. Miraculously, aside from desperately needing food and water, the cat did not have serious injuries.
Once it was clear the cat was safe and would survive the ordeal, Eugene Kibets asked his Zoo Patrol followers to help pick a name. After hundreds of suggestions and votes, the rescued kitty was named Shafa.
Shafa is a Ukrainian word that means “cabinet” or “cupboard.” The name was chosen after numerous photos of ravaged and bombed apartment buildings in Ukraine showed cabinets and cupboards holding strong onto the walls they were mounted, undamaged by the bombs that literally destroyed everything around them.
Now cleaned up and well-fed, Shafa, or Shafi as she’s called, maintains her grouchy (but totally lovable) expression. “When we look at Shafi’s face, we think that if she didn’t get stuck in that house, she would have personally destroyed the entire army of occupiers,” her rescuer said.
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