Stray Kitten Rescued on SJ

GOLDSBORO, NC, UNITED STATES

10.18.2019

Story by Staff Sgt. Cambria Ferguson 

4th Fighter Wing   

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. ---
It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon and Mr. Thomas Greenwood, 4th Fighter Wing Staff Judge Advocate senior civilian attorney, decided it was time for some food. With a meeting in less than an hour, he began walking to the Base Exchange for a quick lunch. As he reached the intersection of Wright Brothers Ave. and Edwards St., he heard a noise that stopped him in his tracks - the faint mew of a cat coming from somewhere nearby. He followed the sound down the sidewalk to a nearby storm drain, looked into the grate and that is when he saw a small, gray kitten soaking wet whose paws were grabbing onto the drain’s ledge as rain water rushed by.

Mr. Greenwood knew he needed to help immediately and ran back to his office to call the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron pest control office. As he anxiously waited for assistance, he grabbed a few volunteers from the building to help secure the kitten in place. By the time everyone arrived to the storm drain, the kitten was still crying but had moved further down the drainpipe. This presented a new problem as the drain was directly beneath a busy intersection with loud traffic and pest management can only do so much to coax a scared kitten out in chaos. “When these things happen, it’s typically best to leave the cats alone,” said Mr. Jamie Johnson, 4 CES pest management supervisor. “Most of the time their mothers are only away temporarily to retrieve food, but we do catch stray animals if we feel they are in danger or a danger to members on the installation.”

Unfortunately, the teams effort were unsuccessful and the kitten would not budge. Mr. Greenwood returned to his office and told his team about the situation. Later in the day, they went back to the storm drain one last time to attempt to lure the kitten out. Defeated, Mr. Greenwood went home - but pest control decided to leave a trap with food in the drain. Finally, two days later, Mr. Greenwood received a call from Mr. Johnson saying the kitten had been captured and made a trip directly to the pest control office to pick up his new kitten.

“I decided to name her Dewey Gidget Greenwood,” said Mr. Greenwood, adopted cat father. “Dewey after the name of the company that produced the metal grate over the storm drain and Gidget because her front paws have extra digits as she is polydactyl. I’ve since discovered that in Welsh, the name Dewey means ‘beloved’ and the name Gidget derived from a main character in Fredrick Kohner’s 1957 novel ‘Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas.’ So I think the name fits.”

What Mr. Greenwood didn’t share with the others is that his family recently lost their beloved cat of ten years, Oscar, to illness three weeks prior to finding Dewey. They weren’t ready to adopt a new cat - but at only four weeks old and weighing in just over a pound - it seemed like fate had them find each other. “I also found out that she and Oscar share the same birthday, which really took us by surprise,” said Greenwood. “Needless to say, my wife and son fell in love with her and she has become part of the family.” You may not be able to buy love, but Dewey is proof you sure can rescue it. The family has since adopted another feline companion, Finnegan Greenwood.

• Date Taken: 10.18.2019
• Date Posted: 02.23.2020 12:45
• Story ID: 363702
• Location: GOLDSBORO, NC, US