Massachusetts: Kitten rescued from storm drain on Court Street

NEW YORK -- This time it wasn't a false alarm.

A small, gray kitten was rescued from a storm drain on Court Street on Thursday morning, just two days after a similar report of a trapped animal on Columbia Street turned out to be unfounded.

Police responded to the intersection of Court and Varick streets just before 9 a.m. after John Juliano and his wife reported seeing the kitten in a storm drain right in front of the F.X. Matt Brewing Co. courtyard on Court Street.

Photo: Utica Observer-Dispatch

Juliano said he had seen the kitten Wednesday afternoon on the other side of the street, and had brought it some food, but was unable to get it to come to him. His wife was walking to work Thursday morning when she heard it meowing and found it several feet down in a storm drain covered by a heavy grate.

Police first tried to move the grate themselves, then called the city Sewer Department to have it lifted off. Then, city Animal Control Officer Chris Collver used a catch pole with a loop on the end to lasso the kitten and pull ilt out of the drain.

The kitten was taken to Stevens-Swan Humane Society. Juliano says he hopes to adopt it, although he doesn't have a name in mind yet.

(Utica Observer-Dispatch - Oct 10, 2013)