​Troubleshooter Raleigh Nauta teams up with CAL FIRE to rescue trapped kitten 

While we’re always in the business of delivering clean, safe and reliable energy, we’re also sometimes in the business of animal rescue! In the past year, SDG&E crews have also helped rescue an osprey, restore power quickly during a historic heat wave to help the dogs at the Animal Pad, and are continuously working to protect local bees. 

​Thanks to the actions of SDG&E Troubleshooter, Raleigh Nauta, CAL FIRE firefighters and the San Diego Humane Society, an eight-week-old kitten is now safe and sound after getting stuck in an underground pipe in late June. 

“It was just a routine day and then I got the call to help out with the rescue of a cat in Otay Mesa,” said Raleigh. “We’ve helped out with cats stuck on poles in the past, but this was the first time I’ve heard of one being stuck underground.”  

A construction crew working near Brown Field Municipal Airport heard a kitten meowing at the site but wasn’t sure where it was coming from. After getting called out to the site, the Humane Society helped the crew determine the kitten was inside an underground pipe and that’s when CAL FIRE and SDG&E were asked to help find the kitten and get him out safely.  

“I helped the team locate where the kitten was inside the electrical pipe and grabbed the cat after CAL FIRE funneled water into the pipe to gently slide him out from where he was stuck,” said Raleigh.  

The Humane Society took the kitten to their campus for a check-up and he’s doing well. And to make the story even better, once the kitten is ready for adoption, the CAL FIRE team who helped with the rescue are planning to adopt him as a station cat. They’ve named him Cactus after the street he was found on.  

Thank you to Raleigh for living our value of doing the right thing! 

Photo Courtesy of San Diego Humane Society.