Middletown Police Shut Down Several Lanes Of Highway To Rescue Cat

Middletown police are asking for the public’s help in their search for the owner of a cat that was found perched atop the concrete divider on Route 36, as cars sped past.

Middletown officers stopped traffic on the highway to rescue the cat, but the frightened animal bolted, then scurried under the police car and buried itself “somewhere in the recesses of the undercarriage,” of the vehicle, according to the department’s Facebook page.

With some help from a tow truck driver and an animal control officer, police were able to safely rescue the cat. Now they are trying to find its owner.

According to the post on the department’s Facebook page:

On Saturday afternoon, a driver called police and said a cat was straddling the concrete divider on highway in the Leonardo section of town, and the animal “appeared to be clinging on for its life.’’

When Officer Nicholas Fenezia arrived, he spotted “a very frightened” gray, tiger-striped cat on the divider, and with help from other officers, he stopped traffic on the highway, near Thompson Avenue.

But as officers headed toward the cat, it jumped off the barrier, ran toward the shoulder of the road and hid under the police car. When officers looked under the cruiser, they “realized that the panic stricken cat had climbed and buried itself somewhere in the recesses of the undercarriage.”

Because police feared the cat could get injured, they called for help.

Officers kept several lanes of Route 36 closed for an hour, and with the help of an animal control officer and a tow truck driver, police freed the cat from the undercarriage of the car.

The animal was not injured, but it did not have a microchip or any collars or tags. It has been placed with the Humane Society while police search for its owner. It is a gray, tiger-striped cat believed to be 9- to 12-months-old. The owner is asked to call the Middletown Health Department at 732-615-2095.

Police said they want to recognize the work of Officers Nicholas Fenezia and Christopher Menendez, Sgt. Gerald Weimer, Animal Control Officer Kerry Gowan, Tow Truck Mechanic Tom Meagher of AM/PM Towing, and the motorist who called police.

“The compassion and concern demonstrated by everyone involved in this animal rescue was truly commendable,’’ police said on their Facebook page.

Photos via Middletown police Facebook page