Central New York DOT Workers Rescue Kitten Thrown from Moving Vehicle

A horrific act of cruelty did not end in tragedy thanks to a group of compassionate construction workers.

This is one of those incidents that make you not want to know what was going through a person's mind.  WIBX spoke with Heather Tehan, Public Information Officer of the local Department of Transportation branch, about the incident.

According to Tehan, construction crews were performing work on Genesee Street in New Hartford when a motorist entered the work zone from a rural area and tossed an object out of their car.

Tehan explained the flaggers noticed the act and performed an emergency traffic stop, which brought all work to a halt. Whenever an object is thrown from a vehicle, flaggers must stop all traffic flow to ensure the safety of everyone on the road, said Tehan.

Tehan said workers sprang into action upon learning the thrown object was a kitten and managed to grab it before it could get hurt.

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Tehan noted the kitten was terrified, and rightfully so. The tiny brown and white ball of fluff hissed and spat at the workers who tried picking it up. Tehan said the workers relocated it to a safe area until one employee took it to the nearby veterinary office.

The little kitten received a clean bill of health and was ultimately adopted by one of the construction workers, who named her Genny after the street where they met. Tehan said the image of the woman cradling Genny is not the employee who adopted her.

Here is the DOT's official statement about what happened:

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, at approximately 2:00 p.m. workers from the New York State Department of Transportation and a NYSDOT contractor took quick action to rescue a kitten that had been dropped from a vehicle as it passed through a work zone in the vicinity of Genesee Street near Oxford Road in the Village of New Hartford. The workers observed the animal being dropped from the vehicle and immediately halted traffic so they could remove the animal to a safe location. They then allowed traffic to resume. Thankfully, the kitten was not injured and has since been adopted by one of the workers, who named the kitten Genny. Both Genny and its new owner are doing fine!

Of course, the community is outraged that such a heinous act was committed and are hoping the suspect has been caught. Unfortunately, it seems this individual got away with it.

Tehan explained that no one identified the plate, make, or color of the vehicle because they were too focused on saving the kitten. Additionally, she said it is a misconception that workers have cameras in all work zones - so there is no recorded evidence to identify the suspect.

Tehan said work was also happening in front of a business that's for sale, so there was no security CCTV footage from there.

She hopes that anyone who witnessed the event or has information about the identity of the suspect comes forward.

In the meantime, Genny is being absolutely spoiled by her new owner. So while Genny had a rough start in life, the lucky kitten won the lottery when it comes to her loving new family.

This story will be updated.

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