A cat turned on the tap in a flat in the centre of Baden-Baden, Germany, causing a flood in the building during the night of Wednesday 19 to Thursday 20 August, according to the police, as reported by ICI Alsace on Tuesday 25 August. Unable to contact her ‘cat sitter’, the animal’s owner – who was away at the time of the incident – was able to raise the alarm by remotely viewing the CCTV camera installed in her home.
On arrival, firefighters from Baden-Baden found that water was already flowing from the flat in question into the cellar of a neighbour’s flat on the floor below, the police explained in a statement. Upon entering the flat’s kitchen, they found the tap leaking profusely. The room was already so flooded that the water had spread into other rooms.
Firefighters temporarily stemmed the flooding using towels, advising the owner to take “urgent” steps to dry out the property to “prevent further damage”. “The cat is fine,” wrote the Baden-Baden police, and “will not face criminal charges for damage to property”.
An article written by franceinfo (Radio France), avec ICI Alsace (Radio France), initially published on 25 August 2026, 08:21 (CEST)