Arizona Department of Transportation workers usually aren’t in the animal rescue business, but Thursday they were doing just that for a cat stuck between two freeways.
The workers were responding to a call that reported the cat on the heavily traveled transition ramp from State Route 51 to eastbound Loop 202.
Incident Response Unit crew member Travis Benthin arrived on scene and came up with a plan to rescue the kitten, who was perched on the ledge.
“I wanted to not spook it,” Benthin said in a press release. “So I turned my raincoat inside out because it’s not as bright or distracting and put it on along with my gloves.”
Fellow IRU member Derik Woitaszewski had arrived by that point and positioned his truck to give Benthin a safer environment.
Benthin approached the cat, who wasn’t fond of him at first.
“It hissed at me and I reached out with my left hand and put my right arm around it,” Benthin said. “It started to jump off (the ledge) and I was able to grab it.”
The rescued cat was taken to Heidi’s Village, a nearby Phoenix animal shelter that Woitaszewski had taken a rescued dog to previously.
The freeway trauma was a bit much for the cat, as Benthin said it hid under the seat. By the time they arrived at the shelter, it was hiding in the back of the truck.
Benthin then gave the cat to the Heidi’s Village staff.
“It was a gorgeous cat,” he said.
ADOT officials say anyone seeing an animal on or near freeways should call 911. The recommend not attempting to make the rescue themselves. ADOT crews will respond.