Batesville officer goes ‘cat fishing’ in storm drain

Posted: Oct 7, 2021 / 09:20 PM CDT

Updated: Oct 7, 2021 / 09:47 PM CDT

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Batesville K-9 officer used one of his dog leashes to rescue a kitten that had fallen down a storm drain near the Batesville Walmart.

“I could hear the cat cries all the way into Walmart tire center. That’s how loud she was screaming,” said Jena Hannah.

Jena Hannah stopped by the Walmart Saturday to buy some tires for her granddaughter’s car and called 911 after discovering a cat was trapped several feet below the ground.

“I called the Batesville Police Department, and the lady who answered said that’s not something we do,” said Hannah. “I said can the fire department do it because you see them on TV rescuing cats from trees, and she said she would have to call me back.”

Hannah said the dispatcher called her back and said there was a K-9 officer on the way. She said when Officer Beau Dickson got there, he popped off the manhole cover, dropped down an extremely long dog leash down and fished out the kitten.

“He went cat fishing,” said Hannah. “The first time he did the noose, it was too big, it went over her body. So, he pulled the leash back up, and he made it smaller, and he got underneath her arms with the leash, and that’s when he pulled her up .”

Hannah said she immediately went inside the store and got the kitten some food. She had no idea how long it had been trapped in the storm drain.

“She was starved to death,” said Hannah.

Hannah said she was grateful for the officer who took the time to come and rescue the cat. She said there was no way she was going to leave that store until the cat was out of the hole and decided to take her home.

“I wasn’t expecting a pet. I couldn’t really afford another pet, but you know what I’m going to do what I’ve got to do,” Hannah said.

Hannah’s granddaughter captured the rescue on camera, and the video has been viewed thousands of times on Facebook. In fact, she said one person had already reached out to donate some cat food.

“She brought me four bags of kitten food. She’s a kitten. She’s still a baby,” said Hannah.

Hannah decided to name the kitten Miss Dickson so she would never forget the name of the officer who saved the cat’s life.

“He said he had a couple of cats at home with the canine. So, I know he is an animal lover, too,” said Hannah. “He heard her cry and hearing something like that, if you are any kind of pet lover, you just can’t walk away from that.”