LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dana Fleming's walk to work in downtown Louisville took an unexpected, but heartwarming turn on Tuesday.
She was walking toward the Mazzoli Federal Building when she heard faint meows coming from somewhere nearby. Fleming searched under cars but couldn’t find the feline until she looked down into a storm drain and spotted the trapped kitten.
"It was pretty loud," she said. "I just see two little eyes looking straight up at me just meowing like crazy."
Fleming called MetroSafe to send someone to rescue the kitten. Several crew members from Louisville MSD, the U.S. Coast Guard and Roto-Rooter Plumbing showed up minutes later.
"[Fleming] called me and said 'I'm going to be a little bit late because I heard a cat down in a drain and I will not leave the scene until this cat is rescued,'" Mike Franke-Rose, a U.S. Coast Guard member and Fleming's co-worker, said.
He said other Coast Guard members walked over to join Fleming and help crews coax out the kitten.
"We're all animal lovers," Franke-Rose said. "Who knows how long its been in there without food and water."
The kitten was too far down for rescuers to reach down and pick it up. Instead, they used a basket that would pick the kitten up so they could pull it back up.
But despite crews mimicking the kitten’s meows for help, it wouldn’t stand on the basket.
That’s when staff members from Chef Shaq Kitchen came out with pieces of bacon and turkey to lure the kitten.
WATCH THE RESCUE:
After a nearly two hour rescue, the kitten finally hopped in the basket and rescuers quickly grabbed it up.
"I'm very happy that he's out," Fleming said. "Now it's just finding him a good home."
But it wouldn't take long for the kitten to find its perfect match as three Coast Guard members clawed over who would get to take it home.
Ultimately, it was Hayden King who got to bring the kitten to its new home.
“My wife’s always wanted a saved cat, so we already have two [and] she’s been talking about a third for a while now,” King said. “It’s a perfect time, she’s been talking about [wanting] a black one too.”
King said he’s considering calling the kitten “Bacon” since that’s what led to its rescue.
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