Kitten Rescued from Van Dashboard

There's more than one way to save a cat

Car enthusiasts like to talk about their engines "purring." But a van in Galesburg was outright meowing.

Last week, a kitten was picked up by Animal Control and put in a cage in the back of the van. However, the kitten was so tiny, it maneuvered between the bars and escaped the cage. It scurried up into the dashboard, where no one could reach it.

After several attempts, shelter workers were unsuccessful in getting the small cat out, so Friday they took the van to mechanic Dana Underwood.

Underwood said the case wasn't too unusual.

"I've had to retrieve quite a few animals," he said, reports the Rockford Register Star. "We've seen snakes under the hood, bunnies behind wheel wells, dead cats, squirrels and mice—a lot of mice both dead and alive—under the hood."

In fact, Underwood was sure the kitten hadn't survived its long stay in the dashboard, but as he and his workers dismantled the dashboard, they heard it meowing from inside.

Over 90 minutes later, the kitten was finally found unharmed.

Later that same day, the kitten was adopted and given a new name—Dash.

Matt Bartosik is a Chicago native and a social media sovereign.

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