Florida: Kitten with paw stuck in sewer grate rescued by firefighters, vet staff

FLORIDA -- Rescue workers and veterinary staff came together to help save a kitten whose paw had become trapped in a sewer grate.

The Broward Sheriff's Office Department of Fire Rescue responded when a homeowner called after seeing the trapped kitten. The small cat could be seen licking its front paw, trying to loosen it from the sewer cover.

 

 

"Whether a lizard or something ran down that little hole and caught the cat's curiosity, we don't know," Mike Jachles, public information officer for the sheriff's office, told ABC News. "We figure he might have been there for as long as 12 hours."

Firefighters spent a half hour on scene, unsuccessfully attempting to free the feline’s limb with lubricants and other methods before they transported the kitten to VCA Imperial Point Animal Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale.

This photo shows how calm poor Captain was when
they had to transport him, still attached to the
sewer grate to the veterinary hospital

"He was sitting there and just kind of howling and meowing," Jachles added, "He  was very friendly to our firefighters."

At the animal hospital, vets and firefighters used a series of saws to gingerly cut a hole in the steel cover, eventually liberating the feline, who was under anesthesia the whole time.

The kitten, nicknamed "Captain" by the firefighters, suffered no broken bones and is doing well. They are still determining if the cat has a home, but one firefighter expressed interest in adopting the the lucky kitten.

 

 

 

(ABC30 - Aug 12, 2016)