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Kitten Conveyor Belt Rescue: Kitty Takes A Scary Ride At Recycling Plant [Video]

By Treva Bowdoin
Published on: 14:20 PST, Dec 17, 2015

A kitten on a conveyor belt was just moments away from losing all of its nine lives all at once, but thanks to the quick action of a sharp-eyed recycling plant worker, the lucky kitten still has eight lives less to spare.

Somehow, the cute kitten in question ended up taking a ride on a conveyor belt at a recycling facility in Galt, California. According to KTLA 5, the kitten was found hiding among an assortment of recyclables that were scattered on a conveyor belt and headed toward a compactor full of sharp, spinning blades. Luckily, the tiny kitty was spotted by a recycling facility worker who was sorting through the debris on the conveyor belt, and he quickly rescued the adorable animal from a grisly death.

According to KCRA, the recycling plant worker who plucked the kitten out of harm’s way was Waste Loader Operator Tony Miranda. Miranda was more than happy to help the cute creature, which is probably the most unusual thing he’s ever seen on the recycling facility’s conveyor belt. He discovered the kitten just in the nick of time.

“It’s just amazing to see a little kitty survive through all of this,” Miranda said. “It made my day today. Definitely made my day.”

Miranda revealed that the recycling plant runs a very large amount of material through the compactor every day, so the frightened feline is extremely fortunate that he managed to spot it cowering in a pile of debris.

The conveyor belt kitten had to survive quite the obstacle course before encountering his savior. First, the gray-and-white feline hitched a ride on a garbage truck. It’s possible that it was placed in a recycling bin by a mother kitty looking for a safe place to hide her baby, but there’s also a chance that a cruel human decided to dispose of it by chucking it in the trash. The kitten was then pushed off onto the first of two conveyor belts that it would take a ride on before being spotted by Mr. Miranda. There was a several foot drop between the first conveyor belt and the one Miranda found it on.

“I pretty much just found it between all the debris and bags and just everything,” he said. “I just grabbed it and immediately reported it to the line supervisor.”

A vet checked out the conveyor belt kitten after the recycling plant workers spent a little time cooing over the cutie, and the intrepid little traveler was given a clean bill of health. Shift Lead at the recycling center, Heather Garcia, heard about conveyor belt kitten’s rescue and had to go see the furry survivor for herself. She immediately bonded with the cat and decided that she just had to give it a safe place to stay in order to ensure that it would never encounter garbage trucks, conveyor belts, or compactors ever again.

“It’s just so cute, I mean why wouldn’t you take it home,” Garcia said.

Garcia decided that the conveyor belt kitten needed a name that would pay tribute to his incredible tale of survival, so she chose the moniker “Murphy.” According to Garcia, the workers at the Galt recycling plant call the material recovery facility where they work “the Murph.” However, Murphy probably won’t want to visit his namesake ever again.

If Murphy the conveyor belt kitten could talk, he’d probably tell humans that recycling is great, but cats aren’t made of cardboard. He might also tell cat owners to check all of their holiday boxes before they chuck them in the recycling bin because cats seem to love presents’ packaging way more than the gifts inside – those recyclables are a great place to hide while you take your Christmas catnap.

[Image via KCRA/YouTube]

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