THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260436
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 55 lines
It started with a plaintive cry for help, a woman's legs sticking out of a storm drain and a thunderstorm about to hit.
It ended with a handful of people soaked to the bone celebrating their last-second rescue of a tiny, frightened, jet-black kitten.
``It proves people still care and are still humane,'' said Michael J. McCoy, 49, one of the rescuers.
McCoy was at his post in the Virginia Employment Commission office downtown Thursday afternoon when, about 4:15 p.m., he noticed people staring out the windows. He went to the glass for a look.
``You could see these legs were sinking ever so gradually into the (storm) drain opening'' at one end of the parking lot, McCoy said. ``Living in Portsmouth, where nothing unusual ever happens, I thought, well, `Oh, goodness, someone has met some untoward happening.' ''
Then he noticed that people standing nearby didn't appear frightened. ``I thought maybe someone had lost their car keys,'' McCoy said.
He went outside to check and learned that the woman - who introduced herself from the depths as Liz Foutch - had heard a kitten's wails. First she reached in to help, to no avail. Then she stuck her head in, to no avail. Then
``But being the humanist that she was, she wasn't going to leave until she could rescue that kitten,'' McCoy said. ``This lady was absolutely bound and determined that, somehow, some way, this miracle was going to happen.''
What worried him was the gathering storm. McCoy called animal control and the fire department, and both services responded. Around that time, Foutch climbed out of the drain.
Firefighters opened drains at either end of the lot, but no one could reach the kitten. Even a gentle flushing of water didn't dislodge it.
``It was quite dark and we were starting to get drenched,'' McCoy said. ``But no one wanted to quit. We could hear the darn thing. It was meowing so loudly. It was wrenching.''
Then the clouds burst. ``There was rain, hail, wind. Torrential rains,'' McCoy said. Water was soon cascading into the drains.
``We stood by the holes and hoped,'' McCoy said. ``Then, at the last possible second, out she popped. She came out of the pipe.''
Ready with a towel to catch the kitten was Foutch. ``The lady who had begun this whole effort got it, so that was rather fitting,'' McCoy said.
The kitten was ``no bigger than the palm of a hand, tiny and jet black,'' McCoy said. ``Everyone stood around congratulating each other. Everyone was totally soaked, saturated. It was quite a wonderful moment.''
As for the kitten, Foutch is keeping it. ``Several names are being floated about, no pun intended,'' said McCoy.
``I do have visitation rights. That was established,'' McCoy said. ``And I do intend to exercise them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
KEYWORDS: CAT by CNB