SAN ANTONIO — Sometimes when things are at rock bottom, all that's needed is a helping hand to set things right and get on a new path.
A kind neighbor called upon the Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department on Sunday afternoon to check on a stray kitten that had lost its way and ended up in a neighborhood street sewer.
Ken Jarvis, public information officer for the department, said the animal rescue was something you don't see every day. So we'll let him narrate:
"Since no one was there when we arrived, we had to guess that the animal was in this sewer. A firefighter went in to have a look around."
"Yup. It's in there all right. And the firefighter describes where it is and how far it has traveled. The sewer is immediately behind Kinder Ranch Elementary School, and the animal has traveled underground toward Bulverde Road."
"It's gonna take two firefighters since it's dark down there and one has to hold the flashlight and the other has to manage the animal."
"Firefighter #2 goes down. No room for a radio or other equipment."
"And success! A VERY small kitten is handed up out of the sewer."
"Since the person who called the fire department left the scene before we arrived, the kitten was taken to one of our kind Kinder Ranch neighbors, who will get the care it needs."
Does this story have a happy ending? Of course it does. The neighbor emailed the fire department later Sunday with this:
"(We've) been to the shelter, set up a complete kitty nursery in our bathroom and will be adopting Stormy... a 1 lb, 4-week-old little boy. He has had his first deworming dose, been bottle fed and is now napping in his kitty house on a heating pad with little stuffed bunny. He has a forever, loving home! (He is) cat number 3."
