OCEAN VIEW, Del.- A kitten has a new lease on life after a team of people came together to rescue it from a pond in Ocean View.
On Sunday, the kitten--now named Noel-- was spotted on the fountain in a pond next to the Salted Rim Restaurant. Employee Courtney Giblin says the fountain's timing was troubling.
"I saw her curled up in a little ball right where the fountain spout comes out," she recalls. "Then we went into a panic of when does the fountain come on, how can we stop it, if we were able to stop it and how can we save the cat."
Giblin called Megan Browne from the Millville Pet Stop who came right away.
"She said 'We don't know what to do, the fountain is going to turn on soon.' I talked to my coworker and I said 'Can I go over there and help? Are you okay?' She said 'Yep, I'm fine--go,'" she tells WBOC. "So I grabbed a cat carrier and came over here."
After calling Browne, Giblin called her coworker Jason Ziviello, who she knew had waders and could go in the pond to help the kitten. An animal lover, he jumped in immediately.
"[I was] wondering how cold that water was going to be, being the low temps," he says. "And hopefully nothing else was floating in there with that cat."
Ziviello was able to get the kitten safely into Browne's carrier, where she stayed until Terri Nicholson with Coastal Cats Rescue was able to respond. Browne says Noel's rescue was all about teamwork.
"My coworker said 'Go, go go, it's fine.' Terri said 'I'll be there ASAP,'" she explains. "Jason and Courtney were on it. Rick the owner came out and was verbally telling Jason to be careful out there and where the low spots were. So it really was a team effort. It's really awesome that she's safe now with the help of a lot of people."
The team named the kitten Noel due to the impending Christmas Holiday, with hopes she finds her forever home soon.
"It would make a great Christmas present," says Ziviello.
To learn more about Noel, contact Coastal Cats Rescue at 302-236-5184 or the Millville Pet Stop at 302-537-7448.
