Good Samaritans Rescue Kitten Abandoned At Oklahoma City Airport

Good Samaritans rescued a kitten that was reportedly abandoned at Will Rogers World Airport by an airline passenger.

Kelly Nelson, executive director of the Stephens County Humane Society in Duncan, said on Saturday morning, she saw someone posted the following on Facebook:

"A passenger couldn't take an orange kitten with them on their flight and dumped it at Will Rogers Airport. I couldn't get it because I have to go into work. It's by passenger drop off underneath the cop car on the lower level. Hopefully someone can rescue it. Putting this out there in case anyone lives nearby. It's 4 am right now. I probably won't be able to post an update on it. I don't get off until 2 pm."

After seeing the post, Nelson texted the information to her daughter, Kerry Stark, who happened to live in Oklahoma City. Stark then went to the airport to try to find the cat.

"I went to the passenger pickup area where they had last seen the cat. And as I was walking around, I see like six other people who are also wandering around with like bags of cat food," Stark recalled.

Stark learned those people saw the Facebook post and were searching for the kitten as well. So together, they walked around the airport for an hour-and-a-half, looking for the cat in the parking garage, underneath cars and in bushes, among other places, Stark said. 

"One of (the good Samaritans) was playing cat sounds on her phone, like cat meows," recalled Stark.

Once the group walked by an Oklahoma City police car, Stark said the cat responded. 

"We looked under, couldn't see it. That's when we realized that it was inside the cop car," said Stark. "We were like, 'No way!'"

The good Samaritans then asked the officer to open the car's hood, allowing them to see the kitten hiding in the undercarriage. That prompted Stark to lay on her back to get underneath the car, where she stayed for about half an hour to lure the cat out. She said she placed pieces of tuna closer and closer to her until she was able to get ahold of him.

Stark then named the kitten Roger, after the airport, and brought the feline to Stephens County Humane Society, where he was neutered and received his vaccinations.

Shelter Manager Kelly Place said whoever dumped the cat at the airport was "completely irresponsible."

"The person that did this - what did he think was going to happen next? Or did he not care at all and just, 'Not my problem anymore' and walk away from it?" Place said.

Roger was shy when News 9 visited him on Tuesday. But he was very gentle and eventually ate out of the reporter's hand.

Place said Roger was available for adoption. Anyone interested can call the Stephens County Humane Society at 580-252-7387.