A Templeton Fire Department training exercise turned into an impromtu kitten rescue last week.
On Tuesday, June 25 firefighters were training five new recruits in auto extrication techniques using the Jaws of Life at the Templeton Fire and Emergency Services training grounds near the riverbed. Firefighters had already removed one door of a wrecked car while simulating a rescue when they discovered what appeared to be stuffed animals under the passenger seat. Upon further investigation, they determined that the fur balls were actually two live kittens.
Firefighters stopped the training exercise and immediately went into rescue mode. The kittens were quite young and their mother was nowhere to be found, so Firefighter Jonathan Torres wrapped them in his sweater and drove them to Las Tablas Animal Hospital for medical evaluation. Both kittens, a male and a female, were given a clean bill of health and transferred to a local kitten foster parent.
There were no signs of a mother cat in the area and due to the extreme heat of the day, possible predators and how young the kittens appeared, firefighters felt it was in the best interest of the kittens to move them from the remote lot.
Brittany Donecho, Registered Vet Technician and Foster Coordinator for the Homeless Animal Rescue Team in Cambria, advised that the kittens — named Tofu and Stir-fry — are two weeks old. They will be available for adoption in a couple of months. If you would like to adopt a kitten, please contact Donecho at foster-coordinator@slohart.org.
For more information, contact Templeton Fire and Emergency Services during regular business hours at (805) 434-4911.
