UNITED KINGDOM – A scared tortie kitten who was trapped inside the engine bay of a parked car after crawling inside for warmth has been rescued at the eleventh hour.
Members of the public called the RSPCA yesterday morning after they heard the meowing coming from inside the bonnet of a Jaguar parked in Market Street, Ulverston.
It is thought that sometime between the hours of midnight and 9am on Wednesday, the animal crawled inside the car looking for somewhere to escape the cold night.
Members of the police, fire service, and mechanics all attempted to free the cat, but could not get far enough inside the car.
However, Mark Corkan, who is 38 and from Ulverston, came to the rescue by dismantling the car with his tools to free the kitten.
He stated: “I had a torch in my car so I said I would offer to take a look and I could see it so I tried to grab it with my hands but it climbed further up.
“I went to get my jack so I could dismantle his car and managed to get it out.”
The kitten, who finally made an escape at 5.45pm, was stuck between two catalytic converters and bit Mr. Corkan when it was finally released from the Jaguar, which reportedly belonged to a shipyard worker who happened to be on his way back to Ormskirk.
Mr. Corkan went on to add: “I have heard of cats under bonnets before but I’ll admit that I’ve never had to rescue one before. It was easy enough getting it out but once it escaped it latched on to my hand so it wasn’t very grateful.”
Once out, the kitten was warmly wrapped up in a blanket and taken in by Michelle Scrogham, who is 45, who owns Pure, which is a ladies clothes shop in Market Street, Ulverston.
She stated: “It’s so tiny so it’s easy to see how it got up there. We tried tempting it out with food but it would not come out so we think it had been stuck there for a while.”
Mrs. Scrogham, who has four cats of her own, took the kitten to her home in Birchwood Drive, Croftlands, and gave her some much-needed food.
She is currently planning to take the kitten to the vets to try and reunite it with its owner. However, she says she would be more than happy to keep the cat, which she has affectionately named Jags if its owners can’t be found.
Mrs. Scrogham went on to add: “I would love to find out whose cat it is and get it back to them. I know that if one of mine went missing I would have wanted to know where it is.
“But if we don’t find out whose it is then it is definitely staying with me.”
