An Ontario woman is being credited with saving a little kitten that was thrown out of the window of a moving vehicle into traffic.
Marina Liota said she was driving with her family along Queensway West in Simcoe, Ont. on Tuesday when the car in front of them slowed down.
“[They] rolled down the window, put their arm out, dropped him onto the ground, took off,” Liota told CTV Kitchener on Thursday.
Liota said she saw the tiny, orange kitten fall onto the pavement.
“He was sitting on the centre line. A truck was coming and it looked like they were going to hit him so we slammed on the horn,” she said.
Despite the traffic, Liota said she immediately jumped out of her vehicle and scooped up the abandoned kitten.
The women drove the animal to the nearest veterinary clinic. Liota said she just couldn’t stop thinking about what she had just witnessed during the drive.
“Disbelief, disgust, and concern are what ran through my mind,” she said.
Liota said the kitten, which is only six to eight weeks old, was covered in dirt and had blood on its nose from the fall. It also suffered torn muscles and ligaments on one of its front paws, Liota said.
“If he needs X-rays, surgery, blood work, things like that, it’s going to be in the thousands [of dollars] for sure,” she said.
Liota said she hopes the community will come together to help her pay for the kitten’s recovery.
Ontario Provincial Police are still searching for the driver of the vehicle.
“We need this person to come forward,” Const. Edward Sanchuk of Norfolk County OPP said. “Contact us before we have to contact you.”
Sanchuk said the maximum prison sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to animals is five years under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Liota said she just hopes police can locate the person responsible.
“Honestly, the word that comes to mind is a monster,” she said.
As for the little kitten, which Liota’s sister has aptly named Chance, it is getting another shot at life in a new home.
“He’s one of the lucky ones that someone was able to stumble upon and save,” Liota said.
With a report from CTV Kitchener’s Heather Senoran
