Meet ‘Pawcifer Lucky,’ a kitten that Keys deputies saved from being trapped in a patrol car

Florida Keys deputies united to rescue a scared kitten that had hitched a ride on a patrol car.

The kitten — which is about 4 weeks old and was not injured during the ordeal — was discovered seated on the rear axle Monday evening.

He had apparently spent hours riding around with a deputy, who had no idea he’d picked up a traveler until later, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

The kitten incident began at about 9 a.m. Monday when deputies received reports that a kitten was running close to southbound traffic near mile marker 47 on the Seven Mile Bridge, police said.

Deputy Jonathan Rodriguez arrived to find a dead cat, which police think was the kitten’s mother, in the road at the base of the bridge.

Rodriguez saw the kitten run toward his patrol car. It seemed to have left the bridge and found safety.

Rodriguez continued to look for the kitten, but ultimately had to leave the scene. He alerted other deputies about the kitten.

At about 6 p.m., Rodriguez was at the Marathon sheriff’s office substation when Sgt. Joel Slough heard meowing coming from Rodriguez’s patrol car.

“He asked, is your car meowing?” Linhardt said. “They quickly figured it out.”

Deputies removed both rear tires on the patrol car in an effort to reach the kitten. But he kept retreating to a spot between the rear axle and the fuel tank.

The Florida Keys SPCA came to help.

They tried to coax the kitten out by putting out food — but that didn’t work.

“It became this station-wide effort,” Linhardt said.

Finally, Animal Control Officer Aryel Del Cueto safely removed the kitten from the patrol car.

The cat, now called Pawcifer Lucky, was in fine shape Tuesday, said Tara McFarland, the director of operations at the Marathon campus of the Florida Keys SPCA.

The little guy only needed a bath.

“He was just scared and dirty,” McFarland said. “It’ll probably be another month before he’s old enough to get neutered and be put up for adoption.

Pawcifer Lucky is still in the weaning stage and is being fed by syringe at the shelter.

He is allowing the shelter workers to handle him, which is a good sign, McFarland said.

“He’ll be sociable,” she added.

This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 3:45 PM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.