Kristine Malone was standing on a New York City subway station when she heard a frantic cry reverberate from the rails below.
She examined the railings and gravel but saw nothing at first. Her gaze was drawn to a little cluster of orange fur crushed against a stone wall.
The little clump of hair raised its head and let forth another passionate cry.
Malone realized that time was of the importance, so she posted an emergency request for assistance on social media. That’s when Long Island Cat/Kitten Solution, Inc.’s vice president, John Debacker, stepped in.
He knew the rescue would be tough, but as soon as Debacker arrived at the railway station, he encountered more difficulties than he had imagined.
“It was tough getting to the kitty since he was down on the tracks,” Debacker said in an interview. We were attempting to find out how to get to the kitten from street level, but we couldn’t do so without endangering ourselves.”
Debacker promptly sought two Metro-North police officers and told them about the kitten, hoping for safe access to the rails, as he adds: “They were also animal lovers. They turned off the electricity and led us onto the rails.”
Debacker and the rescue crew inched as near to the kitten as they could without scaring him away, then quickly snatched him up with a rescue net.
The kitten was finally safe.
Debacker had a lot of experience with stray kittens as a full-time animal rescuer, and he could tell right away that this little orange cat was different.
“He was really nervous, but I’ve had a lot of feral kittens, and he’s definitely not like a regular feral cat,” Debacker said. “He was quite kind practically immediately.”
Metro was named by Debacker, who subsequently brought him to a nearby shelter called Last Hope, Inc. for temporary lodging.
Kristine Malone, the woman who first heard Metro sobbing on the train tracks, paid a visit to the cat at Last Hope and chose to adopt him.
Metro is currently having his finest life at an apartment near the rails where he was discovered, with Malone and her baby.
It’s difficult to tell what Metro’s life was like before he was stranded on the railway tracks, but one thing is certain: he’s finally home.
In one of their Facebook posts, Last Hope, Inc. had this to add: “[Malone] and her daughter, Destiny, sing Metro’s praises, and Metro is thoroughly enjoying his new life in his new home … like a feline fairy tale.”
