Man Saves Kitten Stuck on Busy Road While Others Keep Driving by

Friday morning, Chuck Hawley from Silverton, Oregon was on his way to work when he spotted something in the middle of the road.

As he got closer, he realized that it was a kitten stuck in the lane.

Chuck Hawley

"I was driving to work and saw cars in front of me passing over something in the road, and realized it was a kitten sitting upright shaking like a leaf," Chuck told Love Meow.

The tiny feline appeared to be stuck to the ground and couldn't break free. Many cars drove around her, but no one stopped. Chuck knew that he had to do something quickly before it was too late. He put his hazard lights on, carefully stopped traffic and rushed to grab the kitten. That's when he noticed that the kitty was covered in glue.

"She was wet, freezing and literally glued to the road," he said.

Chuck Hawley

Chuck gently removed the kitten off the pavement. Her paws were very tender and she was shivering from the cold. He put her in his arms to warm her and swiftly brought her back to his car.

After a much-needed bath and some food, the kitten felt much better. "We don't know who put her there or how long she was there, but she was wet and cold and had leaves stuck to her," Chuck told Love Meow.

Chuck Hawley

He took the kitten to the Silver Creek Animal Clinic, where they removed the rest of the glue and treated her paws with mineral oil. After a long ordeal, the tabby girl was on the mend. She clutched onto her rescuer and purred up a storm.

On their way home, the 5-week-old kitten curled up in his lap and went right to sleep.

Chuck Hawley

The kitten who could barely meow when she was found, now started getting louder. "She was too sticky to really move when I got her off the road but once she was cleaned up, my shoulder was where she wanted to be," Chuck told Love Meow.

The kitty quickly adjusted to her new abode and even snuggled up to the family's dogs for some much-needed TLC. "She is so tiny and tries to nurse our old male Black Labrador."

Chuck Hawley

Chuck knew from the beginning that the kitten would be part of their family.

"We were just talking about getting a cat the other night. She could have found an easier way to find us but she found us," he said. "We are definitely keeping her. My wife has named her Sticky."

Chuck Hawley

In less than a day, the kitten's life was forever changed.

"She went from the worst luck ever to the luckiest kitten in the world," he added.

Chuck Hawley

"I feel like I did the normal human being thing, and everyone should have stopped to help her," Chuck said. "She's a super lover and purrer. She slept between my wife and me last night."

"I'm glad I found her because we scored a cool cat! She will be well loved!"

Chuck Hawley

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I am one of those guys who was taught as a kid to pop a cat if it was more than 100 yards from a farm (it was a common "rule" in the conservation clubs of the time) and I never felt too bad about hitting one with the car when I was in HS, but I never liked seeing them treated badly for the hell of it. The better type of farmers treated them as useful four-legged farm equipment, but only dogs were considered fit companions for the boys. That was how it was. A cat that killed generations of rats and mice was tolerated, but the dog that did nothing but occasionally bark at someone turning around at the end of the lane was somehow the most valuable quadruped ever. That was also how it was.

As an adult, I like cats and accept their eccentricities. A good cat who trusts me and decides to make me an honorary member of his species is an appreciated gift. Even today, though, I am considered not quite right by some people who dislike cats. I am frequently part of conversations where people slobber about dogs to the point of imbecility, yet when I mention cats they go full-blown Margaret Sanger on felines.

People are weird.

Over the years we’ve had several batches of feral kittens. We live in coyote infested woods, and most simply do not survive. In efforts to save them, we feed and give them a warm shelter in the winter, which might save 1 in 10, only to be eaten the next year.

But now we have something totally new. The last batch of 4 are all automobile deaths. They get up on to our pickup, when we are going down the road they jump off. We notice their bodies on the trip home. We’ve popped the hood to look for them to no avail. So they apparently hide somewhere concealed. All four died, one at a time over the course of 2 months. Never before have we had such suicidal cats.

Getting on a vehicle is nothing new, past batches of cats flee as soon as the engine starts. Not this last batch.

"Man killed trying to save dog in traffic"

Last year a man was killed when the driver in front of him stopped on a busy road to let ducks pass. He was rear-ended by a driver in a pickup truck who didn't slow down.

Fatal crash happened after car stopped for ducks

A motorcyclist and his passenger daughter were killed when they hit a car that had also stopped to let ducks cross the road.

Driver who stopped for ducks gets jail, 10-year driving ban

The other day here in Florida I witnessed several drivers swerving to avoid a large turtle in the middle of the road, probably mostly out of concern with damaging their own vehicles over not killing the turtle.

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