Neighbors and police conducted a purr-fectly successful operation when they rescued an adorable kitten on Staten Island Wednesday afternoon.
The feline fiasco occurred at around 3:06 p.m. on Aug. 28 on Thomas Street in Richmondtown. Concerned neighbors heard the young cat crying from underneath the grating.
Karen Wolfsen was checking her mailbox when she saw the commotion in front of her house.
“I went to check my mail and noticed three of my neighbors on the curb outside of my house,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine why they were sitting there. I walked over and asked if everything was ok. The three women, three generations of a family, grandmother, mother and daughter, told me there was a little kitten trapped in the sewer.”
The grandmother, Wolfsen said, was walking to her daughter’s house on the same block when she heard the cat not only meowing, but almost screaming for help.
The frantic neighbors tried desperately to rescue the trapped animal, even making a platform out of a bird cage grating to do a scoop and lift, but quickly realized they needed professionals to remove the grate.
As the rescue attempt continued, the women called city agencies several times. Employees told them they could not help or to just “leave a message.”
Meanwhile, other neighbors gathered around to help. Staten Islanders worked on the ground in 90-plus-degree heat and blazing sunlight to rescue the terrified cat from the harrowing situation.
Wolfsen even called her “angelic” friend in upstate New York who, as a fellow animal lover, helped make calls. WABC-TV flew a chopper over the scene.
Soon, after the NYPD received a report of a kitten stuck in a storm drain, the agency sent officers from its Special Operations Emergency Services Unit (ESU) to the rescue, according to police sources.
Law enforcement sources said officers, with help from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), brought the kitten back to safety.
“The DEP took out a large steel tool to grab the grate, attached it to a crane or pulley on a thick cable, and opened the grate,” Wolfsen explained. “The ESU officers then took a net on a long pole and scooped the kitten out.”
Everyone cheered during the heartwarming moment when officers saved the furry friend. It is unclear right now if the feline is male or female.
“To say we were elated and relieved is an understatement,” Wolfsen said.
The kitten was gently rinsed with warm water and wrapped in a towel. The cat was shaking and nervous “but seemed ok after all the animal had been through,” Wolfsen said.
A family on the block who also helped with the rescue adopted the cat. Kitty is now named Thomas, after the street where he or she was found.
