A group of electricians from IBEW Local 103 in Boston who helped rescue a cat that fell from a moving van were recognized earlier this month.
According to a report from The Boston Globe, the workers discovered Juno nine days after the feline’s tumble, huddled and scared atop a steel girder along the southbound side of a busy highway. They received the “Compassionate Action Award” from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“These workers went out of their way to coax this beloved cat to safety and reunite her with her overjoyed family members. PETA hopes their story will inspire people everywhere to keep an eye out for animals in need of assistance,” said Colleen O’Brien, spokeswoman for PETA.
On Christmas Day, the cat's owner was driving on I-93 toward New Hampshire when his van door began to make a rattling sound, the Globe reported. Norton went to open and close the door to get it to stop, but Juno had been hiding in the footwell and fell onto the roadway. He said he spent more than a week hanging up fliers, enlisting the help of community groups, and working with an animal tracker to find the cat.
The electricians, who were working beneath I-93, roughly a half-mile from where Juno fell, located the cat unexpectedly. Juno was sitting on a girder 80 feet from the ground. She was unharmed.