A cat who sprang from her owner’s arms when leaving the vet went missing and was later rescued by the local fire department after prospective car buyers heard her distressed meows when they started the engine of a Jaguar.
Hunter Pappas was leaving the Vestavia Animal clinic in Vestavia Hills, Alabama on the morning of October 10 when his cat Gracie jumped out of his arms and ran off. Pappas searched the area looking for Gracie, including a check of Hollywood Imports car dealership, located across the street from the clinic.
Unable to find the missing cat, Pappas had to go home to face his family without their beloved pet.
That evening, a couple planning to test drive a blue Jaguar at the dealership heard meowing when they started the car’s engine, and the meows were unmistakably distinct cries for help.
It wasn’t apparent at first that Gracie could be saved; all that was visible of her was her tail.
Staff from the dealership, including Hollywood imports president Michael Schefano, vice president of marketing Molly Fielding, and others tried to free the cat from the car but finally called the Vestavia Hills Fire Department for help.
After an hour’s work, the firefighters were able to rescue Gracue, who’d gotten stuck upside down in the wheel bearing.
Once Gracie was safely removed from the car, her rescuers called her family with the good news, and Hunter Pappas was on the scene in minutes to collect his cat.
The customers had their test drive and went home with the Jaguar.
Hollywood Imports auto dealership wrote about the rescue at Facebook on Friday, saying:
“Welcome to Hollywood, what’s your dream?
“The Vestavia Hills Fire Department came to the rescue to save a cat stranded in one of our vehicles last night. The owner of the cat Hunter Pappas had been to Hollywood Imports that morning looking for his cat, which had escaped out of his hands across the street at Vestavia Animal Clinic. We tried to get the cat out from under the car but were unable to. I could not leave the cat there especially knowing that it belonged to a good family. Michael said call The Fire Dept. They showed up and spent an hour trying to rescue the cat, which was stuck upside down in the wheel barring.
“I cannot express my gratitude to The Vestavia Hills Fire Department. They were AHHHHMAZING to save A CAT!!!! Who says this cat has 9 lives…….Oh and thank you to the sweet couple hearing the cat meow and not driving off in the car and waiting over an hour to test drive the car.”
