RSPCA rescues tiny kitten after taking 30 mile journey under a car bonnet

The RSPCA rescued a seven-week-old kitten from under the bonnet of a car which had just driven a 30-mile journey with the cat trapped inside.

Luckily, the young male cat did not suffer any burns or injuries throughout the journey and has now been offered a loving home by the motorist who found him.

Rosalind O’Brien, from Cheshire, drove the 30-mile journey from her home in Winsford to her mum’s house in Neston on Tuesday (18 August) before she pulled up outside her mum’s house and heard a very loud meow coming from inside the vehicle.

She said: “The day before that, I heard a meowing sound outside my front door but I wasn’t sure if it was a bird or something and every time I went outside to check, the noise just stopped. Then when I came home from work at about 10pm, I heard it again. This time I saw a little ball of black fluff in the dark, I grabbed a torch and saw that it was a kitten but when I moved toward him he shot off through a hole in the fence.

“In the morning, I didn’t hear him or see him but as I’d last seen him near the car, I even checked under the car to see if he was there but didn’t see anything. Then I got in and drove to my mum’s house. It’s about a 30 mile journey and I was doing about 65mph for part of it so he was so lucky he didn’t get burned or anything. I didn’t hear a thing in the car but I did have the music on quite loud! When I pulled up I heard that meow again and I thought, oh my god he’s in the car!

“We tried for ages to get him out but I could only hear him, I couldn’t see him.”

Rosalind contacted the RSPCA for help and Inspector Caren Goodman-James arrived to help rescue the trapped kitten.

Caren said: “It wasn’t an easy rescue. It was quite tricky getting the kitten out. I had to lie on the ground getting quite wet and dirty as I moved engine parts around until we could free him. Then I took him to RSPCA Stapeley Grange Cattery to be cleaned up and cared for. Once he is old enough, he will be rehomed.”

“I think fate wanted me to have him - or at least he did!” Rosalind explained, as the motorist has offered the young kitten a forever home. She has named him Yaris, after the Toyota Yaris he was stuck in.

To help the RSPCA keep rescuing animals and continue our vital work through these unprecedented times, please donate whatever you can spare at www.rspca.org.uk/covid