It’s only October, but winter is in full swing for Denver, Colorado. The city has already been blanketed in snow and ice, and freezing temperatures pose a real problem for the city’s population of stray animals. Thankfully, there are Good Samaritans willing to lend a helping hand.
A Denver man happened to be in the right place when he visited a local tire shop and heard a plaintive meow. With a little investigation, the man found a tiny five-week-old kitten frozen to a semitrailer’s tire. The poor baby’s paws and tail were stuck fast to the metal of the wheel, and despite its struggles, it couldn’t pull itself free.
Knowing the kitten needed help, the man didn’t hesitate to come up with a plan. In order to free the kitten as safely and painlessly as possible, he went inside and brought out a container of warm water. It took 20 minutes of carefully dripping the water on the kitten’s paws and tail, but the plan eventually paid off. The warm water slowly melted the ice that trapped the kitten, and the freezing animal finally fell free.
While the kitten was no longer stuck, the man knew he couldn’t leave the little stray out in the cold. He wrapped up the baby in a moving blanket and brought her to Denver-based animal shelter, Dumb Friends League.
Safe and sound in the arms of shelter staff, the kitten was treated to a veterinary exam as well as much-appreciated food and water. While the man has no idea how long the kitten was frozen to the tire, vets report she is in good health.
The plan is for the cute cat to stay at the shelter a few days for monitoring, and then she’ll be moved to a foster home. At only five-weeks-old, she isn’t quite ready to join a forever family. But when the time is right, she shouldn’t have any problems finding the perfect place. The man who saved her life has already expressed interest in adoption. She most likely would have died if no one had found her frozen to that tire, but now this kitten has a chance at the best new life.
