Lifestyle Pets Philadelphia Contractor Spends 8 Hours Saving 16 Cats from the Wall of an Abandoned House The contractor brought the cats that he found on the job to the Animal Care & Control Team of Philadelphia, where they are now recovering and working towards getting adopted By Kelli Bender Kelli Bender Kelli Bender is the Pets Editor at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2013. Her work has previously appeared on MTV, The Frisky, Vice, and Best Friends Magazine. People Editorial Guidelines Published on June 14, 2021 04:05PM EDT Photo: ACCT Philly/Facebook After getting stuck in the walls of a Philadelphia building, 15 cats now have the chance to find safe, comfortable forever homes. According to a Sunday Facebook post from the Animal Care & Control Team of Philadelphia (ACCT Philly), an animal-loving contractor made a surprising discovery while at work this weekend. "Sunday started out a bit differently for a contractor working on an abandoned house. The homeowners had heard meowing in the walls, and when he opened the wall, he found 9 adult cats with 7 kittens," ACCT Philly shared in their post. "Thankfully, he was able to get them out and bring them to us — but it took eight hours to do so," the shelter added. Sadly, one of the kittens pulled from the wall died shortly after the rescue. ACCT Philly told 6ABC that the remaining felines "owe their lives" to the helpful contractor who found them since many of the cats are in desperate need of medical attention and likely wouldn't have lasted much longer inside the wall. ACCT Philly/Facebook ACCT Philly/Facebook 'Bobcat' Spotted in Penn. School, Prompting an Evacuation, Revealed to Be a Lost House Cat It is unclear how the animals ended up inside the wall, but ACCT Philly is dedicated to helping the cats stay on the right side of all walls for the rest of their lives. The 15 cats are currently getting some well-deserved rest at the shelter. In the future, ACCT Philly will work on socializing the animals and bringing them back to full health so they have a better chance at finding perfect forever homes. ACCT Philly/Facebook ACCT Philly is encouraging cat fans moved by this story to take part in the felines' recovery. The shelter is looking for foster homes for the cats pulled from the wall and forever homes for their other felines under their care. For those not in a place to welcome a pet, ACCT Philly is always looking for donations to help them continue their lifesaving work.