Miami Beach Police Department Nabs PETA Award for Saving Kitten From Drain

Animal Now Living With Officer Who Helped Rescue Her

For Immediate Release:
November 12, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

A Compassionate Police Department Award is on its way from PETA to the Miami Beach Police Department, which sprang into action on the evening of November 5, when a group of people flagged down Officer Anthony Yarusso and Sgt. Melissa Negron and told them that they had heard a cat meowing in a storm drain. Yarusso lifted the heavy cover off the drain while Negron reached down and managed to grab the kitten.

The officers transported her to a nearby animal hospital, where she was fed and put into an incubator to warm up. Now named Storm, she was adopted by Yarusso.

“Thanks to Officer Yarusso’s and Sergeant Negron’s quick actions, this tiny kitten was spared a terrifying death in a dark and damp storm drain,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “Storm is now safe indoors, and PETA hopes her story will inspire everyone to come to the aid of animals in need.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—notes that cats should never be let outdoors unattended. Those who are allowed to roam outdoors may contract diseases such as feline AIDS, be hit by cars, be harmed by cruel humans, or end up in dangerous predicaments like Storm’s.

The Miami Beach Police Department will receive a framed certificate, a box of delicious vegan cookies, and a letter of congratulations.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.