Nine lives

Jun 26 2008

They say cats have nine lives - Freddy used up about eight of his after climbing on to 25ft-high power lines in Wiltshire and spending the next 18 hours too scared to come down.

Freddy, not wanting to fall, clung perilously to an earth wire with his head just inches from a live line, which would have electrocuted him had he touched it, the RSPCA said.

A passer-by raised the alarm and engineers from Southern Electric, aided by firefighters and RSPCA officers, rescued the tabby and white cat in Amesbury on June 15.