40 cats were among flood victims rescued from flash floods caused by the monsoon rains in Malaysia.
Nohidayah Kamaruddin, 31, had sought the help of firefighters to save her cats after her home in Kampung Kenor (Kenor Village) in the state of Kelantan was flooded with water levels rising drastically.
Nohidayah had called the Fire and Rescue Department in the district of Kuala Krai at 10.30am yesterday as she needed help to move her 40 pet cats somewhere safe with water levels coming close to 0.5 metres.
11 Fire and Rescue Department personnel then attended to the distress call by carrying her cats for 500 metres from her house through the waist-level water.
The cats were evacuated to a temporary relief centre at the Kuala Krai Secondary school. Nohidayah also brought along six cages, food and litter sand for the cats’ comfort at the relief centre.
All the cats under her care were rescued stray cats which used to be sickly and needing treatment
“Previously, I only had five cats but since the number has more than tripled, I want them to be safe by placing them at the relief centre,” Nohidayah told Harian Metro.
“The 2014 Bah Kuning (yellow flood) gave me the opportunity to find many stray cats which were hungry and in pain that eventually compelled me to take them home for treatment.
“Over time, there was a desire within me to continue to save cats. For me, as long as the cat is alive, I will try my best to save it,”
“I consider these stray cats to be my own children,” she said.
Kuala Krai Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) chief, assistant fire superintendent Muhammad Rizwan Ar-Rafee Parsimin said his department always received distress calls from flood-affected residents not only involving human lives but also their pets.