AKRON, Ohio — Akron police are looking for leads in a disturbing animal cruelty case that happened along a busy highway.
Three kittens were tossed from a moving vehicle onto State Route 8.
Two of them died.
The third cat, referred to as the "Y Bridge Kitty," because it was found near a bridge, survived thanks to the actions of good Samaritans who stepped up.
One of those helpers was Jennie Highfield, the executive director of Stan Hywett Home and Gardens.
She learned what happened to the kittens on Mother's Day when she saw social media chatter about a man tossing kittens from a moving pickup truck onto the highway.
"Animals can't make these choices for themselves, so they deserve somebody who can step up and do something good for them," Highfield said.
Highfield connected with the person who saved the kitten from the highway and took it to an emergency vet.
"She was very lucky. She got hit on the backside. She required surgery late that evening—early morning— she had surgery and he had her tail amputated," she said.
Highfield took the rescue a step further and found a family to adopt the kitten, which is doing well after the traumatic experience.
"She had a really bad start to her day, and she had an amazing finish to her day, and she will have a wonderful family who truly will treat her as if they're one of their own," she said.
Akron Police Lt. Michael Murphy said if they can identify the person who threw the kittens out, that individual will face animal cruelty charges.
"For something like this to happen in our community is sickening; it's concerning," Murphy said.
The challenge, Murphy said, is that police have little to go on. They didn't get a call for the incident or respond to Route 8 until an officer got a text from a loved one about the social media post.
"Our hope would be that when something like this happens, people should contact Akron Police Department immediately," said Murphy. "Social media is a great tool, but it puts us behind in terms of the time lapse when we're trying to look for and locate a suspect."
Highfield hopes someone is held accountable for the cruelty against the kittens.
"You really just hope that whoever did this can be held responsible for their actions," she said.
Anyone with information on this case, including a description of the pickup truck, a possible license plate or a name of someone who may be involved, is asked to call the Akron Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490.
