Portland Fire & Rescue Receives PETA Award for Rescue of Trapped Kitten

Tiny Animal Freed From Drainage Pipe Following Six-Hour Ordeal in the Middle of the Night

For Immediate Release:
September 19, 2012

Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382 

Portland, Ore. -- For six hours on Sunday night and into early Monday morning, crews from Portland Fire & Rescue worked tirelessly to free a 3-week-old kitten from a 4-inch sewage pipe after neighbors on N.E. Sandy Boulevard near 118^th Avenue reported hearing the kitten's cries. When the rescuers arrived on the scene, they discovered a whole series of pipes, any one of which the kitten could have been trapped in. After digging and using their searchlights to no avail, they called in a plumber, who was able to locate the kitten using a snake camera. The crews then cut the pipe and directed air into it so that the kitten would make her way back to an opening. The plan worked, and the crew took Champ—as one of the firefighters named her—back to the station for the night before taking her to the Oregon Humane Society. None the worse for wear, Champ should be available for adoption in about four weeks.

For demonstrating patience and know-how and heroically working through the night to save the life of a scared little kitten, Portland Fire & Rescue will receive PETA's Compassionate Fire Department Award.

"Thanks to the kindness and perseverance of the Portland Fire & Rescue crews, Champ, who got herself in a bundle of trouble, has a new lease on life," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Portland is very fortunate to have first responders who are ready to protect and serve the area's human and four-legged residents."

Portland Fire & Rescue will receive a framed certificate and a box of vegan chocolates.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.