Officers in New Jersey shut down highway lanes to save a frightened feline that somehow got stuck on top of a concrete barrier in the middle of a highway Saturday afternoon.
A driver reported seeing the cat straddling the median divider in the middle of State Highway 36 near Thompson Avenue in Leonardo, according to a Facebook post by the Middletown Township Police Department.
Officers responding to the scene found a “panic-stricken” gray striped cat perched on top of the barrier as cars sped by in both directions. As the officers got closer to the cat, it leapt from the barrier and ran towards the shoulder of the highway and under a police cruiser, where it buried itself in the car’s undercarriage.
Police turned off the car and called a tow truck and animal control to the scene, closing off several lanes of the highway for about an hour. Officers were able to free the cat, which was uninjured.
Police haven’t been able to locate an owner for the cat, which didn’t have a microchip and wasn’t wearing identifying tags. In the meantime, it has been placed with the Humane Society. Police say the owner can claim the cat, which is between 9 and 12 months old, by calling the Middletown health department at 732-615-2095.