Determined Doctor, Firefighters Rescue Kitten From Oakland Sewer Grate

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Some Pittsburgh firefighters are being credited with saving a kitten that fell through a sewer grate in Oakland.

A surgical resident at UPMC was the first to spot the kitten.

Dr. Liliana Camison says she was driving home after work Thursday when she saw the small cat run across Fifth Avenue. It sat down, getting out of the way of traffic, by a sewer.

Dr. Camison parked her car and rushed over to the kitten, but before she could reach it, it fell down and into the "dark and dirty" sewer water.

"I was with one of our medical students. I stopped, and we spent probably two hours trying to come up with a way to get it out," she said.

The doctor said she called 911, but Animal Control could not reach the cat. But she was determined to rescue the poor creature.

She said she then drove to the fire station on the South Side, which called the Oakland station. Several of the firefighters came out to the scene.

Dr. Camison said the firefighters eventually pulled the heavy grate from the street, and five hours after the ordeal began the kitten was finally pulled from the sewer.

Dr. Camison says she has been an animal lover since she was a small child and has found herself rescuing all her life.

She added that she and her husband have decided to keep the kitten, and are grateful to the firefighters for their effort.

"I'm just really grateful for the firemen of Pittsburgh for listening and dedicating their time for such a small, seemly unimportant cause, but it just makes me have faith in humanity," Dr. Camison said.

The small feline, which is believed to be about 8 weeks old, still needs a name. She's taking suggestions of names that preferably honor Pittsburgh firefighters.