Scottish cat narrowly avoids being recycled

The black and white Tom cat was found in a lorry load of recycling when it was dumped at a recycling plant in West Lothian.

Shocked workers found the cat cowering amongst discarded sofas, ironing boards and microwaves at the Scotwaste plant in Bathgate.

He tumbled out after a lorry that has been conducting house clearances in the villages of Kirknewton and East Calder.

Though dirty and dusty, the animal was more or less unhurt and at luckily made himself known to the workers well before he got near any of the processing equipment at the plant.

SPCA ambulance driver Emma Phillips was called and took the frightened cat to a local vet to be checked over.

“Cats are inquisitive creatures so he may have decided to explore the contents of the lorry, or it may be that he was hiding in there after being chased,” she said.

“We thought he had a possible leg injury, but the vets who examined him tell me that it’s just a bit of bruising and he should be fine in a few days.

“He was found wearing a black sparkly collar with a bell and tag on it, but unfortunately there were no owner details on the tag and he was not identity microchipped so we are appealing to his owner to call our Animal Helpline on 03000 999999 to reclaim their beloved pet.

“He’s a lovely lad and we’re sure his owner is out there somewhere and missing him terribly.”

Frequent edie readers will know that household pets come close to meeting their maker at waste processing plants with a frightening degree of regularity.

Animals that have previously had lucky escapes include a hamster belonging to Welsh comic Ruth Jones and a tortoise that travelled through a MRF a survived with a few dents and scratches.

Sam Bond