Community effort saves kitten

AUCKLAND: A 7weekold kitten has been rescued thanks to the work of the West Auckland community after it was trapped down a drainpipe for more than six hours.

About 10am on Sunday morning, Ranui resident Hazel Gill saw a kitten leap into a concrete drainpipe, becoming stuck metres underground.

She and her flatmate Jake Armitage rushed outside after hearing cries coming from beneath the stairs.

The pair started frantically digging in a bid to reach the kitten. However, it was not visible, with only its cries as a guide to how far down it was stuck.

When firefighters showed up and failed in their attempt to retrieve it, it was left up to the community to either rescue it or let it die.

‘‘We got out there and tried to dig out the pipe but we quickly found it connected to a concrete junction that goes under the house, and we could hear her meowing in fear,’’ Ms Gill said.

‘‘. . . A few hours had passed and we were starting to feel panicked. We got our neighbours on board and posted to Facebook and got in touch with 9 Lives Cat Rescue, who came down to help.

‘‘Before we knew it, around 10 to 12 people showed up to our doorstep to help.’’

Armed with shovels and their bare hands, locals dug as the hours ticked away.

More than six hours into the ordeal Aaron, from 9 Lives, Jake and local man Stefan Lupton discovered another pipe connected to the drain.

Jake poured some water down it to see where it would lead to and when he went back to the main drainpipe, he saw a little tail.

‘‘I reached in and I felt her and I grabbed her and managed to pull her out by the tail,’’ he said.

‘‘She must have walked backwards after we tipped a bit of water down.’’

The kitten was covered in mud and freezing cold but was now eating well and playing, Ms Gill said.

She plans to keep the female kitten, now named Cosmo, giving her a forever home. — NZME