Most people commute fairly mindlessly. Acting on autopilot and more concerned with getting to work or getting home than what’s going on around them.
One eagle-eyed commuter, however, luckily had his wits about him on his way home from work when he noticed a kitten wandering about on the road.
Though it’s not impossible, I don’t think the kitten itself was commuting. She could’ve been on her way home from work too, but by the way she’s staggering around it’s more likely she’s on the way back from the pub. Drunk kittens. Man, they’re everywhere.
30-year-old Christian Crehencia has obviously dealt with them before though, quickly stopping traffic on the busy road he was on to rescue the lonesome feline.
Check out the heartwarming moment here:
Christian spotted the scruffy newborn on a busy road in Manila, Philippines, just before it walked under the wheels of a silver 4×4.
The quick-thinking motorcyclist alerted the attention of the 4×4 driver, before getting on all fours to scoop up his new four-legged friend.
After moving the cat to safety, Christian was obviously giving off some serious good vibes, as the kitten quickly formed a strong attachment to the biker.
Eventually scooping up the scrawny but adorable kitten, big softie Christian bundled her into his jacket pocket and continued his journey home.
After taking her home, Christian named the cat Baby and gave her to a neighbour in the Navotas district of Manila, where he lives with his wife and child.
Christian, a fire inspector, said:
I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time when the cat needed help.
I noticed the kitten in the road and she was just a few inches from the wheels of the jeep.
If I hadn’t been there she might have been knocked over and killed by one of the passing vehicles.
I would have loved to have adopted her but I have a newborn baby at home who is allergic to fur so we have given the cat to a neighbour.
I will check up on her to make sure she is well.
Stray animals are known to be a problem in the Philippine capital, where many homeless dogs and cats walk the streets in search of food and water.
According to the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS):
The typical stray in the Philippines are domesticated animals, once family pets, thrown out into the streets when owners can no longer afford to feed them or when they get sick and their pet owner doesn’t want to deal with making them better (financially, physically or emotionally).
The typical stray is the result of unwanted pets who are dumped into the streets intact (intact = pets whose pet owners did not practice spay/neuter).
The typical stray is even the result of intact pets who are allowed out of their homes to roam freely in the streets, who come and go into their home or property as they please.
These intact animals then mate with other strays, get pregnant and give birth to more unwanted dogs or cats. And the cycle continues.
Looks like Baby was one of the lucky ones.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.