News

Hungry cat gets new home after mountaintop rescue

A Brother Wolf team rescued Elgee from Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest.

By Lightning Reports, Published: August 21, 2018

PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST — Brother Wolf recently rescued a cat from an unlikely locale — on top of Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest in Brevard.

Staff and volunteers began hearing reports of a domesticated cat on top of the mountain last week. It wasn’t clear how he had ended up in such a remote location, but they knew he was in danger with little access to food and a white coat that made it nearly impossible for him to hide from predators.

Unwilling to let a mountain stand in the way of an animal in need, Brother Wolf’s Field Operations Manager, Eric Phelps, set out at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4, with two dedicated cat-loving volunteers, Bill and Mary Ann Pruehsner. With a humane trap strapped to a frame on Mr. Pruehsner’s back, the trio climbed for three hours before reaching the peak of Looking Glass Rock.

Less than 5 minutes after baiting the humane trap with wet food, the very hungry cat (later named Elgee) was caught and on his way back down the mountain and into Brother Wolf’s care at their Adoption Center for medical intake and assessment, the no-kill shelter said in a news release. He was scared, underweight, and infested with fleas and ticks — not uncommon for a domesticated animal who has been fending for himself in the wild for an unknown period of time.

The Pruehsners were so moved by Elgee’s epic rescue, that they have adopted him into their own family, where he will have two other cat siblings and will never have to fend for himself again. Elgee is just one of over 6,000 animals Brother Wolf expects to provide care and rescue to this year. Visit www.bwar.org to learn more about how you can support their work and No-Kill mission.