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A group of passers-by in Singapore sprung into action and put their heads together to devise a contraption on the spot to save a cat waddling helplesly in a canal.

Footage of the rescue effort was shot by the wife of one of the passers-by who helped in the rescue.

According to the woman, Jessica Tse, the incident took place on Monday, Feb. 21 at the canal behind Jalan Besar Community Club.

She was with her husband at that time and had brought their son to the community club to be vaccinated.

Cat seen in canal

They were on their way home when they saw the cat in the canal just before 6:30pm.

Tse said: "There was already a man there with an extended dustpan trying to scoop the cat out, but it kept falling off."

"Soon after, another man came with a net, which also didn't work."

Footage of the failed attempts showed the cat meowing loudly as it was in the water and hoisted out of it.

However, as the dustpan was not secured tightly to the long stick, it came lose and resulted in the cat losing its balance and falling into the water again.

Another person across the canal then passed a fishing net with a long stick to the person using the dustpan contraption.

Couple realised they could help

That was when Tse and her husband realised that they could chip in.

The woman said: "Then my husband and I realised we had our umbrella with us, and I had my phone charger USB cord with me, so I used that to tie a tight knot to secure the umbrella to the long stick, which worked."

At least six people helped

Footage of the successful rescue showed at least six people gathered by the railing to extend a hand.

Two men had climbed over the railing and were holding on to it while lowering two contraptions into the water to coordinate their rescue.

One man was holding on to a fishing net with a long stick, while Tse's husband was holding on to a long stick tied to an umbrella.

Tse said: "My husband is the one in the dark blue shirt working with the other man to hold the cat in place as it was coming up and out of the water."

It was not known how long the cat had been in the water by that time.

The rescue

Footage showed the man using the fishing net nudge the cat onto the opened umbrella, while the other person gingerly lifted the umbrella out of the water like a scoop.

All the while the cat could still be heard meowing loudly but it instinctively got onto the umbrella.

The rescue was not smooth sailing though.

After the cat got onto the umbrella that was opened, the umbrella appeared unable to withstand the weight of the animal and water and ended up upturned.

The cat almost fell off again as a result.

However, the two men persisted to keep the cat as still as possible on the umbrella as they lifted it up slowly.

Sighs of relief

When the crowd realised they were going to be successful in getting the cat over the railing, there were sighs of relief and applause broke out.

The ginger cat was then put on the ground as it continued to meow loudly.

According to Tse, one person at the scene said the cat belonged to a resident nearby.

As Tse did not stay on after the cat was rescued, she was unsure of its condition, but saw the cat walk off.

All media via @raisingmylittlekays

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