WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Thanks to some persistent retail employees, a West Des Moines cat will soon have a new home after spending a week trapped inside a storm drain outside a World Market store.
According to KCCI, employees of the home decor chain dropped food and water down to the feline for several days while repeated rescue attempts failed. And then they called in reinforcements.
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People walking by the area say they could actually hear the cat crying, but nobody was able to fit in the drain to pull the cat out. https://t.co/61kKK946pL
— KCCI News (@KCCINews) July 22, 2021
One of the employees enlisted the help of her husband, an MMC Contractors employee, who removed the manhole cover, launching the rescue operation, the TV station reported.
“Eventually we were able to get it removed and put a trap down with cat food in it in hopes the cat would run into it,” MCC Contractors employee Mattison Sellers told KCCI.
The stranded feline ignored the cat food, however, prompting emergency medical technician Tony Sarcello on Tuesday night to reload the trap with rotisserie chicken he purchased specifically for the rescue.
“I think it was a wonderful use of my time,” said Sarcello, who crawled down into the drain to reload the trap.
“We would have never imagined spending so much time in the middle of a parking lot. It was time well spent, great friendships made. Good things to come of that,” Sarcello told KCCI.
Indeed, Sacrello’s treat did the trick, attracting the cat within moments.
A World Market employee is now in the process of adopting the cat, the TV station reported.
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