A kitten was found just in time by two sanitation workers who heard his plea from a garbage bag.
Monday morning seemed like just another day when William Montero and John Kase, sanitation workers of New York City Department of Sanitation, started their routine route in Queens, New York.
While they were picking up garbage bags and tossing them in the back of their truck, suddenly, they heard a meow. "My first thought was 'I hope this is a toy I'm hearing.' Unfortunately, it wasn't," Montero shared with Love Meow.
They heard a few more cries coming from a bag and knew there was an animal inside. "We opened the bag to find a kitten. His heart was beating very fast. We think he was in shock, so we reached in and grabbed him."
The kitten was stowed away in the trash bag and left on the curbside, but thanks to the quick action from the sanitation workers, he was retrieved from the compactor in the nick of time. To ensure that there were no more cats in the truck, they rummaged through the garbage for a good while until they could find no trace of other animals.
The orange tabby was stunned by the ordeal but glad to be safe. They tried to put him in a cardboard box for transport, but the kitten crawled right out. "He is a climber. We couldn't keep him in there," Montero told Love Meow.
The kitten was still frightened until Kase picked him up and held him against his chest, trying to soothe him. He wiped some gunk out of his eye, and the kitten immediately felt better.
"We tried to keep him calm until my supervisor came to take him to the vet."
The little guy slowly came out of his shell while being cuddled by his newly acquainted human. Montero and Kase, both animal lovers, decided to name him Hopper.
"The nickname for the back of the garbage truck is The Hopper. My partner and I were debating between Hopper and Rusty. We went with Hopper," Montero shared with Love Meow.
Noah's Ark Animal Rescue was contacted about the kitten and quickly stepped up to help. The little tabby was estimated to be 10 weeks old and had an upper respiratory infection. He was provided much-needed medical attention and a wonderful foster family to care for him.
Hopper is now recuperating in the comfort of a loving home. With the help of the sanitation workers and volunteers at the rescue, he is on his way to a full recovery and a great future ahead of him.
"I was just doing what I hope every normal human being would do," Montero told Love Meow.
"We went to the vet today and gave the foster mom a gift (a cat bed and supplies) to help until they find a forever home."
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