Mark Motta is a hero to a creature that can never say the words “thank you.” And that’s just fine with him.
Mark was working hard at his job for Burlington County Regional Recycling earlier this month when he went to check the hydraulics on a truck. He saw something shocking. A tiny kitten pinned in the back of the recycling truck’s crasher mechanism covered in oil.
“I shut everything off and climbed in the back of the truck to get her,” Motta shared on social media.
Photo by A S On Unsplash
Mark got her inside headquarters and tried cleaning her off as best he could using his own work vest then gave her several baths in Dawn dish liquid trying to mitigate the oil. Then he got her to a veterinarian.
The kitten had an upper respiratory infection and was put on antibiotics then turned over to Rise Again Animal Rescue.
The next hero in this story is Samantha Stamile. She works with Motta. She’s now fostering the cat through that Hammonton-based animal rescue. Samantha is taking great care of her until she’s big enough to get spayed, vaccinated, and microchipped. At that point she’ll be put up for adoption for her forever home.
It’s costing the rescue money of course, and if you’d like to help by making a donation to the organization you can do that through their website.
Photo by Anthony Persegol on Unsplash
The zaniest part of this happy ending story of the little kitten who was almost crushed in a recycling truck is its name.
What do you think they would name a little cat that almost had its life end this way? A name that has a little whimsy to it while also honoring its harrowing experience and rescue.
They named her Squishy. And I hope whoever adopts her keeps the name.
LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state
Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.
Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.
Gallery Credit: Elena Kadvany
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.