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Couple Calls Mr. Rooter To Rescue Kitten Trapped In Drain

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A local couple didn't have a cat, but they kept hearing meowing.

It started on Saturday in the garage, so Dennis and Joyce Snyder of Chartiers Township, Washington County assumed a stray cat had crawled up into their Jeep.

They tried to coax it out. Even called the police for help.

Eventually, they had two different mechanics take a look a the vehicle, but no cat.

That's when they realized the meows were coming from the drain under the Jeep. They lifted the lid, and little kitten squeezed its head up through a very small hole.

"It was so sad! Oh my goodness! He looked up at us like, 'Please help me!'" said Joyce Snyder.

They figure the cat crawled into a drain pipe at the street some 60 feet away, and the feline found its way under the drain in their garage.

They tried soaping it up with dish washing liquid to slide it out. They even called animal control and the humane society for help. Nothing worked.

Eventually they called Mr. Rooter.

"When I got the call, I actually thought it was a prank," said Zack Zelonka from Mr. Rooter.

Fellow Mr. Rooter employee Brian Bruni was first to arrive and found it was no prank.

"The kitten's head sticking out," he said. "I had never seen it before in my life. I was shocked."

They determined the only thing to do was use a jackhammer to break up the cement around the drain. But once they freed the cat's body, there was still a cast iron drain stuck around its neck.

So very carefully, they used a chisel and hammer and to split the drain and free the cat.

Although wet and shaking, the cat appears to be OK, and it's definitely found a home. Mrs. Snyder has even picked an appropriate name: Trouble.

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