METAIRIE, LOUISIANA – The 911 call went just like this: “Hi, I just got on the Causeway Bridge and I just wanted to report there’s a little kitten that’s alive on the side.”
While calls for animals in distress come once every few months or so for Causeway Police, Officer Shenan Jones didn’t have a good feeling about that one that came on Tuesday afternoon.
“Most of the time they’re gone on arrival, meaning they’ve run away or unfortunately been hit by something, or something to that effect,” he stated, “I didn’t think I was actually going to find the animal.”
But after starting a slow convoy, a little ball-like figure was plain as day and sitting right under the 1/4 mile marker on the northbound span.
“It was kind of pressing itself up against the rail as far as it could, crouched down as much as it could. You could tell it was terrified,” Jones explained, “So I just got down on its level, snuck up to it, grabbed it and then it latched on to me and didn’t want to let go.”
The cat was found in surprising shape, with only a tiny scratch to its lip and a bump on its eye. Officials do not believe the kitten was thrown from a vehicle, but either wandered onto the bridge or fell out of its hiding place under a car’s hood.
The ending of this story is even happier. The cat already has a brand new forever home!
“I kind of really wanted a cat and when this one became available it was just, meant to be ya know,” stated Johnny Caradona.
Caradona lives just next door to Barbara Boyle, one of the Causeway’s dispatchers. She staked a claim on the cat as soon as it arrived at Causeway headquarters, but knew her neighbor was the perfect fit.
“Yea, he ain’t going nowhere,” stated Caradona.
Boyle stated, “He’s got a good home, I know in my heart. He will be happy. He or she.”
Until that question is finally answered, the kitten’s name, Miracle, says all that’s needed.
Officer Jones said this actually didn’t turn out to be his most memorable animal in distress call. That title goes to a pelican who needed to be rescued due to a broken wing.
