CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Firefighter Joe Kostiha gingerly held a kitten that trapped her head yesterday at a Salt Lake supply yard. The cat was tranquilized before firefighters freed it from a cable spool using saws, a hammer and an ax. Kostiha wants to adopt the kitten, which he might call Nails.
Firefighters free kitten
with head stuck in holeThe two-hour drama requires
sedation for the frightened feline
A curious black kitten that poked her head into a 2-inch hole and then could not get it out was rescued yesterday morning with help from two Hawaiian Humane Society employees and eight firefighters.
Workers at Alpha Electric Supply Co. on Lawehana Street called the humane society when they discovered the kitten mewing loudly atop a large cable spool, her head stuck in one of the holes, according to humane society spokeswoman Eve Holt.
When the society's investigator failed to extract the cat, which weighs less than 2 pounds, the Fire Department was summoned.
An engine company arrived, followed by a ladder company, which was equipped with more hand tools, said Capt. Kenison Tejada, department spokesman.
Firefighters tried to loosen up the kitten's head with soap, but that failed, so they began sawing through the wooden spool. That frightened the kitten so much that the humane society sent a veterinary technician to sedate her before she was cut free, Holt said.
The rescue took close to two hours, and by the time it was over, one of her rescuers, firefighter Joe Kostiha, said he was ready to adopt her. The kitten, which is 6 or 7 weeks old, will be cared for by humane society volunteers until she is claimed by her owners or is old enough to be adopted, at 8 weeks of age, Holt said.
The humane society handled more than 2,155 emergency animal rescues last year. The Fire Department pitches in when it can.
"We get called, and if we can assist, we will," Tejada said.
