After finding a distressed kitten stuck in a storm drain, a city employee, the police, animal control, a business owner, and a local family came to the rescue!
One afternoon, Young Lee, a city employee for Oxnard, California, was walking to his car. As he walked by, he heard the sounds of a kitten mewing. Then, he discovered the sounds were coming from a storm drain next to the parking lot of a local business.
So, Lee called the police, and Officer Richard Bell arrived to help. Looking down into the drain, the officer could see the crying kitten lying next to its mother. Sadly, he could see the mother was no longer alive.
Images via Facebook/Oxnard Police Department
Next, Bell called on Amador Martinez from the animal safety unit. When he arrived, the two men worked to get the manhole cover off, but it wouldn’t budge. Fortunately, a local business owner from an auto repair shop, Val Solinap, offered to help. He brought tools to pry off the cover.
Soon, Solinap had the cover off, and Martinez lowered a trap to catch the kitten down into the storm drain. Inside the trap, he placed what looks like a dog biscuit, using what was on hand. And being very hungry, the kitten went right inside. Now slowly, they raised the kitten out of the darkness to safety.
According to the VC Star, Young Lee decided to adopt the tortoiseshell kitten on the spot.
Animal Safety Officer Amador Martinez, City employee Young Lee, and Officer Richard Bell
Success! But then they heard a familiar sound.
Another Kitten in the Storm Drain
Just when the men were about to leave, they heard another kitten crying in the storm drain. So, once more, Martinez sent the trap down with bait inside. However, this time the kitten wouldn’t go inside and ran away.
Hopefully, Martinez thought, the kitten would go into the trap if they left it overnight. Then, he would return to make another rescue the next morning.
Unfortunately, when he arrived, both the trap and the kitten were nowhere to be found. Perhaps, someone found the kitten and rescued it along with the trap. Whatever the case, now Martinez was out a valuable tool to help him rescue animals.
On Facebook, the police department thanked whoever it was in advance for adopting the stray and bringing back the city’s property. Nevertheless, they never go the trap back. Also, they don’t know what happened to the second kitten. Hopefully, the kitten found a loving home in the area.
🐈 A Kind Family Donates to Help Save More Kittens 🐈
A day later, the Oxnard Police Department shared a nice update. After they had shared the story on social media, a lovely local family, the Patricks, decided they wanted to help. So, they donated not one but three new traps for the city.
In the pictures, you can see the officers with the brand new traps and the smiling family. On Facebook, the community praised the family and someone said they saw their faith in humanity restored. In the end, so many people came together in the effort to save a little meowing kitten.
“A local family who was following the story on social media stepped up in a big way. We’d like to give a big shout out to the Patrick Family for donating three brand new animal traps to the Oxnard Animal Safety Unit! Your kind gesture and generosity are greatly appreciated and will provide Animal Safety Officer Martinez the opportunity to rescue many more kittens in the future.”
Animal Safety Officer Amador Martinez with the new traps and the Patrick family via Facebook
