Police, Army Corps of Engineers save cat stuck on huge dam in Indiana

One lucky kitty was rescued from one dam misadventure.

The ordeal began Wednesday when the Huntington Country Sheriff’s Department in Indiana received a call from a fisherman who spotted a cat that had somehow become stranded on the spillway.

The dark cat is tough to see but it is in the middle spillway of the photo below.

“It is unknown how the animal got there, as there is no way to access that area, it is possible it had fallen off of SR 5 or was thrown off,” police said.

The cat in in the middle of this spillway. Huntington County Sheriff’s Department/Facebook

At one point the cat made the situation worse.

“The cat was clearly in distress and retreated to the very top of the spillway area and lodged itself in the metal structure,” police added in a post on Facebook.

There was no way to reach the wayward cat.

So, the Army Corp of Engineers was called. The water was shut off and a boat was taken to the bottom of the dam in attempt to coax the cat down.

“It was decided it was worth a shot to attempt the help the cat versus doing nothing,” police explained.

And guess what? It worked. 

The video is hair raising.

“You can do it,” a voice is heard saying on the video as the cat is in free fall. “He’s saved!”


When the boat reached the spillway, the cat emerged from where it was hiding at the top, and slid the entire way down.

Rescuers even snatched it out of the air before it hit the water.

Army Corp of Engineers member Ryan Martin and Jared Perrott pictured with the cat they saved. Huntington County Sheriff’s Department/Facebook

“Thank you for going above and beyond, job well done..!!” police said.

The cat looks relieved, indeed.

The cat is safe and sound on solid ground. Huntington County Sheriff’s Department/Facebook

And Sheriff Chris Newton offered an even better ending.

“Good news, the cat has been reunited with its owner. The family told us that he has been missing for 10 days,” he wrote on Facebook.

The cat’s name, by the way, is Mr. Vanjie.

His owner said he was a stray they took in a year ago, and will likely be a little more inside-, than outside-cat from now on.

Photos The Huntington County Sheriff’s Department/Facebook

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Recovering newspaper reporter.

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