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This was by no means John DeBacker’s first rodeo.
But dodging rush-hour traffic on the Wantagh State Parkway to save a scared kitten — even with some help from a state trooper — was likely his most intense animal rescue yet.
“Yeah, it was actually pretty scary, because anything could have gone wrong,” DeBacker, 31, of Bellmore told Greater Long Island about his daring, borderline harrowing capture of the wayward cat. “The kitten could have popped over (the traffic divider). The kitten could have climbed up another car. A car could have sped past, hit me or the kitten. There’s just so many things that could have gone wrong.”
But luckily, everything went right.
Before locating the 8-week-old kitten, cowering and pressed against the median wall on the northbound side of the parkway in New Cassel, DeBacker had coordinated his rescue effort with state police. A trooper stopped the northbound traffic near Exit 2, just as DeBacker flew into action.
Holding a net and wearing a helmet with a GoPro camera, DeBacker darted across the parkway to reach the kitten, only to be rebuffed by the animal on his attempt to trap her in the net. The cat darted across the parkway’s northbound lanes and onto a small patch of grass that separated the on ramp of the exit from the parkway.
DeBacker scampered after animal, and this time was able to quickly scoop her up in the net. Below is a video of the rescue he recorded on his GoPro.
As vice president of the Long Island Cat and Kitten Solution, a foster-based animal rescue group, DeBacker over the years has rescued dozens and dozens of animals on Long Island highways and from other precarious situations.
Social media plays a huge role in getting him quickly to an animal in need of help. And his rescue of the kitten on the Wantagh State Parkway last Thursday was no different.
A woman noticed the cat on her drive to work and posted about it on Facebook. People who know DeBacker shot him an alert and off he went to the scene, phoning police along the way.
“I was actually on another call in Freeport at the time. Someone made a public Facebook post in one of the animal groups that a kitten that was, like, cowering along the center divider,” DeBacker said. “The woman was on her way to work at the time, and she couldn’t stop. Once she got to work, she made the post. It took me like 30 minutes to get there. I actually missed the kitten on the first pass, but I looped back around and spotted it on the second go.”
Once the kitten was secured, DeBacker brought her to Last Hope Animal Rescue in Wantagh, where she awaits adoption by the woman who spotted her and posted about the kitten on Facebook.
The kitten already has a name: Wanda.
“I just love animals,” DeBacker said, explaining why he pursues animal rescues full-time. “Animals are my passion.”
Below, he describes the moments he ran onto the parkway and chased after and rescued Wanda.
Top image: Video still (courtesy).
