Together, a Good Samaritan and a police officer sprang into action when someone tossed a kitten from the window of a moving car on the Walt Whitman Bridge last week.
Jean Finizio phoned police after she had seen the kitten dropped out of a moving car window on her way to New Jersey. Delaware River Port Authority Officer Richie Ridolfi coincidentally happened to be crossing the bridge headed toward Philadelphia at the same time.
Ridolfi answered the call to help save the kitten from danger.
Turned out, Ridolfi was the right one to call.
“I’m the biggest animal lover,” he stated. “As soon as I get a call about any animal on the bridge, I’m the first person to get there.”
Finizio explained to Ridolfi that as she pulled over on the bridge in an attempt to avoid hitting the kitten, the small, frightened animal jumped into her tire well.
“I laid on the ground, in the middle of the bridge, under the car trying to reach for the cat, but he must have gotten scared and he ended up crawling into the undercarriage,” Ridolfi recalled
After the unsuccessful rescue, traffic quickly began to build, and the group decided it would be best to move the car to the end of the bridge to retrieve the kitten. After reaching a parking lot at the end of the bridge, Ridolfi was then able to rescue the kitten from the car’s undercarriage.
“I took her to Philadelphia Animal Hospital to make sure she was not injured or sick, and I took a few photos to post on Facebook to see if anyone was interested in adopting her,” stated Ridolfi, who offered to pay for all of the vet fees in return for a good home for the kitten.
The kitten, whose appropriately been named “Bridgette,” is now living comfortably at her new home.
Police have not been successful in tracking down the person responsible for throwing the kitten from the car.
