Firefighter adopts kitten he rescued

Prepare to smile and say “awwww”: A Michigan firefighter is making headlines for rescuing a tiny kitten from a storm drain, then bringing the little one home to join his family.

Back in August, police in Saginaw responded to a middle-of-the-night call for a trapped kitten. Police could hear the kitten crying for help, but didn’t have the proper equipment for a rescue, so they called in the City of Saginaw Fire Department.

Firefighter Brandon Mulvaney told Newsweek, “Upon arrival we were able to figure out that there was a very small kitten, trapped below ground, running, running back and forth between a main drain and a curb-style storm drain.”

Poor thing!

Mulvaney suited up and went down below via manhole. He realized the kitten was in a much smaller underground pipe, one he couldn’t fit into, so he called out and waited a few minutes for the little dude to emerge.

When the kitten finally popped his head out of the smaller pipe, Mulvaney snagged him and brought him up to safety.

“At that moment I knew I wanted the kitten because it came right to me,” Mulvaney said.

Despite the instant connection, Mulvaney did the right thing and delivered the tiny cat to a local animal shelter. Staff estimated the kitten was just a few weeks old and needed medication for an eye infection.

The Saginaw Fire Department celebrated Mulvaney with a Facebook post after the big rescue:

Mulvaney couldn’t forget the adorable kitty, though.

“I called once a week for about two and a half months until I got the approval for adoption,” Mulvaney said in People.

Now named Huntley (for one of the streets near where he was found) the kitten is thriving at home with the Mulvaney family, including four kids and a dog. What a happy ending!

To ensure you meet your daily cuteness needs, check out this interview from local TV station WJRT with Mulvaney — and Huntley himself!