Community Corner

Cat Trapped in Fumigation Tent Dies

A beloved pet cat, who was trapped inside a fumigation tent, has died.

A Gulfport family is mourning the loss of their family cat after it was rescued from a fumigation tent Thursday night.

When BearBear, an indoor-outdoor cat with a microchip and collar, went missing mid-week, his owner Linda Craig and her family went looking for him. They called for him near her business The Perfect Ten (A Salon for Nails) and her home on Beach Boulevard, where he usually roams.

But they never found him.

Find out what's happening in Gulfportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Across the street from Craig’s home, Bingham's Professional Pest Management was employed to fumigate 2819 Beach Blvd., a residential home up for sale. The company said they put a tent over the house to prepare for the fumigation on Wednesday.

Passersby talked to staff on scene and called the Real Estate Company Wednesday claiming to hear a cat howling from inside the tented home. Officers with the Gulfport Police Department were also notified.

Find out what's happening in Gulfportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Brian Hawkins, owner of Bingham's Professional Pest Management, said the fumigation was postponed overnight and a section of the tent was left open Wednesday night to allow the cat to escape. He said the following day, they searched the crawl space, the attic, and the entire structure, and even used a non-lethal tear gas to coax the animal out.

“The company waited over an hour for this to be accomplished with absolutely no sign of the cat,” Hawkins wrote in a comment to Gulfport Patch. “The company never found, heard or saw a cat. This is also confirmed with the Gulfport Police."

The fumigation resumed at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

On Thursday night, however, the manager of Cousin's Pizza, which neighbors the tented home, heard a cat still crying from inside. 

Around 9:15 p.m., he rescued the cat, held his breath and crawled under the tent. The cat was feeble and barely alive. He soon recognized the big black cat, whom he'd been feeding treats for years. Joe Hashim says once he got BearBear outside, the cat dashed, using the last of his energy to run across the street to Craig's back door sometime in the 9 o’clock hour.  

"I hear him at my kitchen door just howling. I open the door and there he is looking at me with pain and confusion in his beautiful gold eyes. As I look up it's the gentleman from Cousins Pizza and he tells me that he pulled him from the house across the street that was being tented and fumigated to get him to a Vet ASAP. I didn't know it but Bears body and brain were shutting down," Craig wrote in a personal Facebook post early Friday.

Craig immediately took BearBear to a veterinarian on Belcher Road. She says he began to have seizures at the office and the vet told her he wouldn't make it. They sedated him and she said her goodbyes.

"He died in my arms," Craig said.

Hashim says he's disgusted with how the company handled the situation. Despite claims that the company left the tent open Wednesday night to allow the cat to get out, Hashim says he personally saw staff seal up the tent Wednesday night.

"I'm just grateful Linda got to see him one last time," Hashim said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Gulfport