While checking the hydraulics on a recycling truck early one morning, employee Mark Motta made a surprising discovery. As he went near the button to start the compactor, he saw two bright eyes staring at him.
Those eyes belonged to a tiny gray and white kitten who was stuck in the hopper, covered in oil, and visibly terrified. As Motta took a closer look, he saw that the kitten was in a dangerous spot, stuck behind the compactor’s crushing mechanism.
He yelled at the driver, Moses White, to shut off the engine. Motta then carefully climbed into the truck’s bin and gently pulled the kitten free. “I’ve had cats my whole life, and I know that when they’re babies, if you grab them by the skin on their necks, it makes them think they’re being carried by their mother,” he said. “So that’s what I did.” The kitten didn’t resist and seemed relieved to be rescued, Motta said.
Motta and Squishy in front of the recycling truck where he found the kitten trapped and covered in oil. Photo by OTC Services
Motta used his bright yellow safety shirt to clean the kitten as best he could before calling safety officer Samantha Stamile. Seeing the kitten, Stamile knew she needed help right away. “I got there, and there’s this sweet little kitten, absolutely saturated in some kind of oil from inside the truck,” Stamile said.
“She also had a green eye discharge, and she was wheezing. We decided to clean her up right away. The two took Squishy to the fleet mechanic shop and bathed her several times with Dawn dish soap to remove the oil.
The first bath did nothing — she needed quite a few,” Stamile said.
Motta named her Squishy. “I thought it was perfect because if I hadn’t seen her that morning, there would have been no saving her,” he said. After cleaning her up, Stamile gave Squishy some cat food and took her to All Creatures Veterinary Care Center in Sewell, N.J.
Squishy was happy to be cleaned up after her ordeal. Photo courtesy of Stamile
The vet provided a free examination, diagnosed Squishy with an upper respiratory infection and estimated her age at about two months. Squishy was otherwise in good health. Stamile then contacted Rise Again Animal Rescue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to animal fostering and adoption. “I told them I’d like to foster Squishy until she’s old enough to be spayed, vaccinated, and put up for adoption,” Stamile said.
Ekaterina Sedia, a founder of Rise Again Animal Rescue, praised the rescuers, “We know how easily a cat — or especially a young kitten — can get hurt. Unless people interfere, an accidental injury is often a death sentence for a cat on the streets.”
Stamile’s daughters, Arabella, 7, and Adelyn, 2, were thrilled when she brought Squishy home and introduced her to the family’s other cat, Rascal. “My kids have always loved fostering cats, and it instills the importance of treating all life kindly and with respect,” Stamile said. Squishy fit right in with the family, playfully interacting with Rascal and enjoying the company of her new human family members.
Although it remains unclear how Squishy ended up in the recycling truck, Stamile speculated she might have been a feral kitten who climbed in after the driver’s previous run. Squishy’s story, covered by local news, has a happy ending. “She’s an absolute cuddle bug,” Stamile said.
Sources: Washington Post | NBC 10
