Hours-Long Effort To Free Trapped Kitten Has Happy Ending

LEVITTOWN, NY — A jittery lost and scared kitten was the subject of an hours-long rescue attempt by police and animal workers over the weekend after it was found wandering in a Levittown parking lot.

Workers were trying to get to the kitten for about four hours in the afternoon of June 13 before finally rescuing it. The drama started when someone heard the kitten mewling from inside the front of a car in the parking lot of the PetSmart on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown.

John DeBacker, an animal rescuer, arrived about two hours into the operation, after a friend of his called to tell him what was going on. When he arrived, there were seven police cars at the scene and a group of other good Samaritans trying to help the cat.

"[The cat] was terrified," DeBacker said. "No one knows where she came from."

The cat was not stuck, but was hiding in the engine compartment of the car. Before rescuers could get to it, it bolted to another car and hit itself there. And then it did it again, too.

DeBacker, working with fellow animal rescuer John Spat, had their lucky break when the owner of the car allowed them to remove one of the side panels, which gave them better access. They were finally able to get the kitten out.

According to DeBacker, the cat was malnourished and in desperate need of a meal. But other than that, it seemed to be healthy.

DeBacker is currently nursing the cat back to health. When it's healthy, he said one of the people involved in the rescue plans on adopting her.

"She's a sweetheart," he said.