The rescued cat.
Photo courtesy Snohomish County Public Works
The North County Recycling and Transfer Station in Arlington was shut down for about 20 minutes on June 30 after a cat was found in the station’s garbage pit.
At about 9:45 a.m., while crew members were processing garbage, one of them noticed the cat in the pit. Crews stopped customer traffic and machinery to retrieve it, but the cat disappeared amongst the garbage and debris. Two crewmembers stepped down into the pit to dig around for it. Apparently, it had found a little hole in some discarded furniture, but before too long, the employees found it, unhurt.
“It is a very nice cat,” said Operations Manager Will Cote. “It was definitely freaked out.”
As word got around about the rescued feline, someone thought the cat looked like one that has been reported missing recently in the area, but it was not the same one.
An employee took the cat to the vet and learned that it had been chipped. A software update was needed at the vet’s office to learn who it belongs to. In the meantime, an employee is fostering it until word is received on to whom it may belong. The employee has volunteered to adopt it if no one steps forward.
Not only do the county’s solid waste employees focus on processing the community’s garbage and recyclables, but they also have big hearts.
“Either way, it will have a good home,” Cote said.
To reach Snohomish County Solid Waste: 425-388-3425, Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
