Martin County Sheriff's Office animal services rescued a cat hiding in a boat after the owner died on board

NEWS AND VIEWS: I often criticise the police. In this instance, like everyone who has read the story, I have to praise them and thank them for the work they did. And it was a difficult task they say.

Here is a series of photos from the Facebook page of the MCSO. The pictures are by them. Martin County is in Florida, USA.

It seems that they were called to a rather tired looking boat in a harbour where the boat's owner had been dead on the boat for more than a week.

This man lived on the boat with his cat. There was clearly a very strong connection between the two because the cat refused to leave the boat.

The MCSO Facebook post tells us that when the detectives from Stuart Police Department removed the dead men's body, they realised that the terrified pet was unwilling to be removed from the boat.

The MCSO notified Animal Services. Offices Tabitha Queen and Shannon McGee arrived and boarded the boat in hazmat suits for their own safety.

They were able to remove the cat. The cat was taken to The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. They were treated there for any medical issues.

If nobody applies to take possession of the cat, he or she will hopefully be adopted.

Comment: the interesting aspect of this case is that the cat refused to leave the boat and that may have been out of fear because they lived on the boat all the time and they were therefore scared of the exterior surrounding the boat - the unknown. 

It may partly be because they had a strong connection with the man and they were confused and frightened having been left alone perhaps for the first time in a very long time. The cat may have been grieving the passing of his or her human companion.

We don't know enough about the higher emotions experienced by domestic animals. So, we can say that this cat was grieving. It is more likely that they were unsure and therefore found security in their familiar surroundings and refused to leave for that reason.

The other interesting aspect is the excellent way the animal services department and the police dealt with this sensitively and correctly.