‘Terrified’ Kitten Rescued From LI Storm Drain Before Heavy Rains

PATCHOGUE, NY — A kitten is definitely minus one of its nine lives after falling about 30-feet down a storm drain just before the rain set in on Monday afternoon in one Long Island suburb.

The five-week-old black and white tuxedo kitten somehow fell out down a sewer near Camille Lane and Frost Valley Drive in Patchogue and was heard screaming very loudly by a good Samaritan at about 1 p.m. The Hagerman Fire Department was able to pry the grate off of the sewer, so that animal rescuer John Debacker of Bellmore could climb down and rescue the lucky little feline.

The kitten was dry, having somehow landing on a pipe that was surrounded on either side by about three feet of water, which would have started to rise once the rain set in. Before climbing down the significant drop with a fire department ladder, Debacker hatched a plan with fellow rescuer, Marilyn Dean, for her to make noise at the other end of the pipe so that the kitten wouldn’t climb further inside the sewer.

Once in the sewer, Debacker was able to just scoop the mewing kitten up in his hands.

“It was terrified,” Debacker said.

Debacker has rescued his fair share of animals that have called down drains recently.

“I've been getting a lot of sewer rescue calls lately with animals falling down drains,” he said. “The kittens or animals don't realize there is a drop, so they just end up walking and falling down the drop.”

Last week, Debacker did not make it in time to rescue a much older kitten that had fallen down a sewer drain in Bay Shore. By the time he got to the site, the animal had drowned in the water.

“Someone heard it down there and then it went silent before I got there,” he said, adding that he was able to locate its carcass. “This one we were lucky that we were able to rescue it in time.“

The tuxedo kitten has since been taken in by the Last Hope Inc. in Wantagh and his new name is “Norton.”