Holly a cat rescued from an abattoir waste container. Photo: North Star News.

Somehow a sweet-natured, female tabby cat ended up in a huge waste container at an abattoir, John M. Munro, in Dingwell, Scotland.

The container contained tons of waste animal by-products. It must have been awful for the cat who was in a state both physically and emotionally.

She has been named Holly because it happened at Christmas 2018. She is not microchipped.

She was lucky to be spotted by an eagle eyed worker. If she had not been seen she’d probably have lost her life because the container is filled on a daily basis with tons of waste.

The worker, whose not been named, was looking out for seagulls as they are attracted to the abattoir’s waste. He saw something move and looked harder. He noticed that it was a cat. He tried to get her out but she was in too much of an emotional state to be helped.

Graham Fraser managed to get her out using gloves and a net. Holly was filthy and soaked through. They borrowed a dog carrier and got her to the veterinarian.

Graham returned to the vet the following day to check up on her and she was fine: a changed cat. She was friendly and cleaned up.

Holly was transferred to Iona’s Munlochy Animal Aid Shelter on Saturday and she’s doing really well.

The mystery remains as to how Holly got into the container as it would have required a ladder to get into it. Domestic cats don’t normally climb ladders! And why would she have done it? Was she attracted to the waste? Or was she chucked in?

It’s possible that she got into the container when it was empty at Dumfries but that would have been as hard to do.

Iona Nicol of the Munlochy Animal Aid shelter is trying to reunite her with her owner for Christmas.

Reported in the North Star News.