Kitten stows away in car for 6 hours

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HENRIETTA, N.Y., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Workers at a New York state auto shop said a kitten survived a 6-hour trip inside the plastic undercarriage of a couple's car.

Employees at Smitty's Transmissions in Henrietta said the couple told them they had heard cat sounds outside of their vehicle when they left Connecticut and heard the purring again in New York state, where they were traveling to drop off their son at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and decided to stop to see if an animal was stuck in the car, The (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle reported Monday.

Workers said they found the kitten curled up in an alcove above the vehicle's gas tank.

"It was pretty mind-boggling," said Chuck Evert, one of the workers. "We thought if there's a cat in there, it's not alive. Somehow it climbed up in that little spot and was shielded from the heat and the gasoline fumes."

Evert said he took the kitten home to his wife, Barbara, who works for the foster kitten organization Lollypop Farm. Barbara Evert said the kitten is being cared for until it gains enough weight to be spayed and adopted.

Karin Forte, foster care coordinator for Lollypop Farm, said the kitten, which has been dubbed Connecticut, appears to be about 6 weeks old and was likely feral before stowing away in the car.