Officer crawls 50 yards through pipe to rescue kitten in Florida

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Animal welfare officers in Florida came to the rescue of a kitten heard crying from inside a drainage pipe.

Escambia County Animal Welfare said an employee with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office heard the kitten's calls coming from inside a drainage pipe near the Escambia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

Lead Animal Welfare Officer Sgt. Merideth Roberson responded to the location and initially tried to use videos of a mother cat to lure the feline closer to the opening.

"I played mama cat noises again, then I saw his beady little eyeballs way at the end of the tunnel," Roberson said in a news release.

The kitten declined to come any closer, so Roberson donned a headlamp and climbed into the drain. She said she had to crawl about 50 yards to reach the kitten.

"I was a little scared crawling down in there," she said. "I'm just super thankful that I've had the opportunity to do things like this and that I've received training to do my job the best that I can do."

The kitten, now named Pipes, was taken to a veterinarian for a check-up and will soon be available for adoption at the Escambia County Animal Shelter.