Clearwater police rescue kitten trapped under employee's car hood

A rescue mission in Clearwater had a happy – and adorable – ending when officers and other employees with the police department teamed up to save a kitten stuck under the hood of a car.

CPD said a communications worker with the department heard a faint cry of a cat while driving to work from Hillsborough County early Thursday.

The driver pulled over, but didn't see or hear anything more and started driving again.

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Once back on the road, the worker soon heard more crying noises, but kept driving after her mother reassured her that if there was a cat in the car that it would likely be OK until she arrived in Clearwater.

After the employee made it to work, officers and fellow communications workers popped the hood, then jacked up the car to figure out where the sound was coming from.

Clearwater police officers and employees rescued a kitten from underneath the hood of a car early Thursday. (Image courtesy of the Clearwater Police Dept.)

Clearwater police officers and employees rescued a kitten from underneath the hood of a car early Thursday. (Image courtesy of the Clearwater Police Dept.)

CPD said workers found the kitten behind one of the front headlights and pulled the little one to safety.

"He got a free ride across the Courtney Campbell Causeway," the communications worker said in a statement on Thursday. "Nothing like that has ever happened to me. I hope he finds a really good family."

The kitten is now in the care of Pinellas County Animal Control, according to police.

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