'Unbelievable' Moment Litter of Kittens Trapped in 100ft Wall Are Rescued

A heroic rescue has seen a litter of kittens plucked from a rock retaining wall in Canada.

In Sudbury, Ontario, around four hours north of Toronto, dedicated cat rescuer Debbie Wilmott was alerted on social media to a cat dodging traffic in the area.

Experienced in trapping cats, she left out food and managed to capture the cat and bring her to safety. But when she examined her, her heart sank once more.

She discovered that the cat was female and still nursing kittens. "Your stomach sinks," Jill Pessot, director of Pet Save in Sudbury, told Newsweek. "When you're trapping this time of year it's tough and you just know then that the hunt goes on for the babies."

Determined to reunite the family, Wilmott enlisted the help of the local businesses, including staff at a nearby Costco who promised to look out for the kittens.

Before long, four kittens were found stuck deep inside a crevice of a huge 500-feet-long and hundred-feet-tall retaining wall.

"The size of the stone wall—it's massive," said Pessot. "To have found them in there. It's unbelievable."

But there was still a problem. Getting the kittens out of the gap in the wall was far from simple. The stone retaining wall is made up of large rocks and as a result has multiple crevices, when the kittens were located, they were too far into the wall for a hand to grab.

Emphasizing the enormity of the challenge ahead, she explained: "Our temperatures are now dipping below zero overnight, so we race against the clock to get all of the kittens off the streets before winter."

Nearby Costco staff, known for their regular donations and volunteering with Pet Save, united to rescue the stranded kittens with a little clever thinking.

"Josh, one of the managers there put together a device to be able to reach them," said Pessot.

Amazingly, by that evening all four stranded kittens had been rescued and were reunited with mom in the safety of the rescue center.

There was more good news to come, too. "The story just gets better," Pessot said. When permission was sought from Costco to share the remarkable rescue, the vice president generously issued a $500 donation to support the care of the mother and her kittens.

Reunited, mom and her kittens are both doing better. "One of her babies was quite cool this morning so we separated from the mom. I fed him and warmed him up and he is now back with mom," said Pessot.

Now thriving, the mom and her kittens are looking for a foster home while they grow and recover from their ordeal.

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