“[S]he almost certainly would have perished if she wasn’t so loud …”
A kind-hearted passerby was taking a walk through Birmingham, England, when they were startled by unusually loud cries echoing from a tunnel connected to a storm drain. Many might have brushed it off and kept walking, but this person decided to investigate and call for help.
When the fire department arrived, they traced the desperate cries to their source — a small, frightened kitten stranded in the darkness, calling out for someone to save her.
According to animal rescue officer Cara Gibbon from the RSPCA, the kitten had no way to escape on her own. “She was stuck deep inside a sewage system,” Gibbon explained to The Dodo. “We believe she must have fallen from quite a height because there was no other route she could have taken to end up there.”
When the firefighters couldn’t safely reach her, Gibbon and RSPCA Inspector Boris Lasserre stepped in to assist. Each time they approached, the terrified kitten would retreat further into the tunnel. She clearly wanted to be rescued but was too frightened to trust the people trying to help her — making the rescue especially difficult.
After hours of effort and fading daylight, the team decided to return the next morning. “When we came back, she seemed to recognize us,” Gibbon said. “She ran toward us, meowing loudly for help, though she was still too scared to come close. Luckily, she eventually wandered into the humane trap we set, and we were able to bring her out safely.”
The rescuers were overjoyed to finally have the kitten in their care. They had initially named her Oliver Twist, but once they realized she was a girl, she quickly became Olivia Twist. The team couldn’t believe such a tiny creature had made such an enormous noise — but it was that powerful cry that saved her life.
“It was an incredible rescue,” Gibbon said. “If she hadn’t been so loud, no one would have known she was down there. Her cries truly saved her.”
Now safe at the RSPCA Worcester Branch Animal Centre, little Olivia is receiving all the warmth and attention she needs before she’s ready to find a forever home.