By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — A Bolivar-Richburg Central School teacher on her way to work on Monday heard a kitten meowing under her hood as she drove down East State Street in Olean.
Heather Renyck, a Bolivar-Richburg science teacher, pulled into the Country Fair gas station and opened the hood of her car, but couldn’t see any kitten. It continued to meow out of sight.
“I opened the hood and heard a kitten but could not find it,” Renyck wrote in an email to school staff. “I called the Olean Police Department. Between them, myself, and a good Samaritan on his way to work who removed my car’s skid plate, we were able to get the kitten out safely,” she said.
Patrolman Joseph Cottone was the first to respond to the 911 call. “The cat wasn’t meowing when I got there,” he told the Olean Star on Wednesday. “It was pretty well hidden under the hood.”
Sgt. Kris Lickfeld was next to arrive on the scene. “He was able to find the car, but it kept moving around,” Cottone said. Another patrolman, Zack Spears also responded to the call.
A mechanic who had stopped at Country Fair on his way to work at Mastell Ford came over with a couple of tools and popped off some plastic panels so Lickfeld was able to safely grab the kitten. He was later identified as Cordell Hill.
“It was my first cat call,” said Cottone, a 12-year veteran of the police department.
“Our officers do this kind of stuff all the time,” Police Chief Ron Richardson said in an interview Wednesday. “They respond to a complaint and resolve the situation. We kind of do whatever the community needs us to do. Last year we responded to more than 24,000 calls.
“It was lucky the woman heard the cat while she was driving. “I’m glad we could help out,” the chief said.
Meanwhile, Renyck reported to her colleagues at Bolivar-Richburg the “traumatized kitten is currently in my bathroom” and that she was open to someone adopting it.
“The kitten will eventually end up at Ten Lives Shelter in Blasdell, N.Y., where it will be in good hands. No worries!” Renyck reported.
