Villagers turn rescue of trapped kitten into a family affair
Published: January 4, 2007
The rescue of a kitten trapped in a storm drain became a family affair.
For more than three weeks, Village of Liberty Park resident Gary Stebler and his wife Nancy heard cries from a trapped feline in a storm drain across the street. They tried to encourage the kitten to come out, but to no avail. They dropped down some dry cat food or tuna daily, and made a cloth rope in hopes the kitten would use it to crawl out.
Instead, they heard cries.
“It was heartbreaking,” Gary said.
Villages firefighters also tried to rescue the kitten on two different attempts, without any luck. One firefighter even climbed down the drain.
“But the cat got scared and ran,” Gary said. “There was nothing they could really do to go try and catch her, but that told us she was still alive and she was still down there.”
Denny Stebler of Pittsburgh had come to The Villages to celebrate the birthdays of his brothers, Gary, 50, and Ed Stebler, 60, of the Village of Belle Aire. Yet he found that his brothers’ conversations centered on the trapped kitten and their concerns for the feline.
“My brother Ed looked down the storm drain and saw her,” Gary said. “All of the other times we could hear her, but we couldn’t see her. When I went over and looked down, I saw her, and then she got scared and ran. It told me she was not hurt, yet we just really needed to get her out.”
Denny suggested calling around to sporting goods shops to see if any had a cage trap.
Gary made the phone calls and found a shop in Wildwood.
“They had just what we needed,” Gary said.
The brothers pulled up the rope Gary had first placed in the drain, tied it to the trap, and then lowered the trap with a can of tuna placed inside.
“In three hours’ time, the kitten was rescued,” said Denny, who photographed his Villages brothers on the Dec. 2 day that they saved the calico feline.
The kitten, now called Angel, is enjoying her new home with Gary and Nancy.
“She is just so adorable,” Gary said.
Initially, the Villagers were going to turn the kitten over to Pet Lovers Rescue, until the little feline warmed their hearts.
The night of the rescue, Angel snuggled in Nancy’s arms and purred, which was enough to convince Nancy that the kitten was not wild.
“It was like she wanted somebody to take care of her,” Nancy said. “She just seemed happy to be here, and just wanted to stay.”
Angel got her wish.
In deciding what to name the kitten, Gary suggested “Stormy,” yet Nancy believed “Angel” was more appropriate, given the kitten’s pretty white and tan fur and grayish blue eyes.
“And the markings on each eye almost look like angel wings,” Gary added.
Five-month-old Angel now has the company of the Villagers’ two other cats — India and Tiger, both 8 1/2 years old — and is getting the veterinary care she needs for her age.
“Angel is great and has provided a lot of laughs,” Gary said. “She is a bundle of energy; running and jumping.”
Looking back, Nancy and Gary remember when they saw Angel in the fall, before she was trapped in the storm drain. They recalled the day when India and Tiger were out on their screened patio, and Angel was on the exterior peering in.
Nancy and Gary now say Angel adopted them.
“She picked us,” Nancy said. “We both play with her, hold her, and she runs up and sits with us on the sofa watching TV.”
“It’s heartwarming,” Gary said, “Angel was our unexpected Christmas present.”
Gary’s brother, Denny, couldn’t resist summing up Angel’s rescue with the words of a TV commercial:
“The moral of the story — one cage trap: $60. One can of tuna: $1.20. And to save a kitten and adopt it: priceless,” he said.
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