Monroe, WA (KCPQ) — Officials responded to the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) Tuesday morning for an unusual reason— a wild bobcat had breached the outer perimeter of the maximum security prison and was hiding somewhere inside.
It all began about 11:30 p.m. Monday when a corrections officer spotted and spooked the bobcat during a perimeter check.
“The startled bobcat ran through the razor wire perimeter fence and made its way to the rooftop,” prison spokesman Chad Lewis said in a statement.
The animal, which had injured its left paw and hind-quarters while running through the razor wire, ended up on the roof of the Special Offender’s Facility — one of five living quarters that make up the prison.
Dr. Roger Hancock from the Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital was called to the prison about 4:30 Tuesday morning. He climbed a ladder to the roof, used a tranquilizer dart to sedate the animal and carried it off the grounds with the help of some corrections officers.
Doctors, who believe the cat is a juvenile male between 1 and 3 years old, administered sutures and antibiotics.
The animal was then transferred to the Sarvey Wildlife Center in Arlington which will release it to the wild once it recovers.
Opened in 1910, the MCC is a minimum to maximum security prison capable of housing 2,400 inmates.
