Bend firefighters rescue kitten stuck in deep hole

A kitten that found its way into a 20-foot-deep dry well in northeast Bend was rescued Friday evening by fire crews using some a bit of good fortune, ingenuity — and a cord with a slip knot.

The kitten apparently found its way into an open or unsecured storm drain cover, then through another pipe to a dry well that’s about 20 feet deep with an 8-10 foot diameter on NE Gloucester Lane, said Bend fire Capt. Darrel Levine.

Fortunately, a curtain was hanging inside the storm drain, apparently to filter out pollutants, Levine said.

“We hooked that curtain with a long hook, wrestled it around and bunched it up in the middle, and the cat climbed its own way the first 12 to 14 feet up,” the fire captain said.

Levine said he then “lowered a little piece of cord down with a slip knot, waited until the cat got curious enough to get in the slip knot, and cinched it around the body” of the cut, then lifted it the rest of the way to safety.

Levine said animal control officers were taking the kitten to the veterinary hospital to be checked out after its ordeal.