High wire walking cat resists rescue attempt by Algerian authorities

ORAN, Algeria, May 11 (UPI) -- An Algerian Civil Defense crew's attempted rescue of a cat atop a street light nearly turned disastrous when the feline fled across a power line.

A video posted to YouTube by user Salah Oran, shows a civil defense crew in Oran province using a ladder in an attempt to reach a cat stranded at the top of a light pole.

A crew member climbs the ladder, but the feline refuses to be caught and runs out on a power line.

Assembled onlookers can be heard gasping when the cat nearly falls from the line.

Crew members use long poles to loosen the cat's grip on the line and cause it to fall into a tarp being held by rescuers.

The cat, apparently uninjured, quickly flees the scene.