A kitten rescued from a chunk of ice in the middle of Pennesseewassee Stream last week has found a temporary home with a salon owner.
“I want to keep him,” said Chris Ryan.
One of the workers spotted the kitten from the top of the 60-foot-high crane stationed between the back wall of the Opera House and the stream off Main Street.
“I looked over and said, 'Do I see a cat?'” Paul Champagne of Chabot Construction in Greene recalled. “We've got to save that cat.”
After initial thoughts of using the crane to rescue the kitten were dismissed, Kelsey said he told his crew, “Just get him.”
Schnopps said the kitten gave him no resistance.
“We told them to bring him (the kitten) over here,” Hennessey said.
Kelsey said when he attempted to hand the cat over to the women at the adjacent Prime Cuts and Nails and Chris Ryan Hair Color salon at 426 Main St., the kitten kept jumping back over the fence to reach his rescuers.
Ryan said she took the kitten home and said he immediately fit in with her two other kittens and a Beagle dog. They were eating out of the same dish, she said. The kitten is black with white markings.
While the owner of the kitten is unknown, Ryan said she would like to adopt the kitten and give it proper care.
Sally Leighton, a board member of Responsible Pet Care, a no-kill and nonprofit cat shelter and adoption center in Norway, said she heard about the rescue Friday morning while downtown and went to the salon to offer assistance.
Ryan said she intends to make sure the cat is neutered and has the proper shots before she hands it back to its owner, should they show up.
“I want to make sure they take care of it,” she said.
The kitten was named Chabot by construction workers and Matrix by Ryan, who uses Matrix hair products. As a compromise, Ryan said Friday that she will name the kitty Chabot-Matrix.
Anyone with information about the kitten may call Ryan at 739-2338.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
