Man Notices Tiny Kitten On Sidewalk With Shoelaces Around His Neck

He stopped to help when no one else would 👏

Timofey Yuriev was driving down a street in Yonkers, New York, when he noticed someone extremely little slowly creeping along a busy sidewalk. Yuriev felt he had to pull over and save the cat as soon as he recognized it was a kitten.

“There was a bus stop and people walking around, but no one was looking at the tiny little kitten,” Yuriev told The Dodo. “So I came to the kitten and saw that he had a shoelace wrapped tightly around his neck because he was crawling towards the road and would be killed by passing cars.”

Yuriev was shocked and disgusted to discover that someone had cruelly tied a shoelace around the helpless kitten’s neck, and he immediately began attempting to untie it. After everything he’d gone through, the tiny cat was afraid and refused to look his savior in the eyes. Yuriev needed about five minutes to get the shoelace completely untied and finally free the kitten, later named Laces.

“After I rescued the kitten, he started meowing,” Yuriev explained. “Because it was so tight around his neck, he couldn’t meow before, and he started screaming a little bit, still very scared.” He didn’t try to scratch me or anything, but he was very weak, so I put him in the car, and he tried to climb as far as he could into the darkness beneath the seat.”

Yuriev drove tiny Laces immediately to Paws Crossed Animal Rescue after rescuing him so he could get the treatment and care he needed. Everyone at the shelter was shocked to learn of the kitten’s upbringing, and they were not surprised that he was terrified of everyone and everything. They determined that he was about 2 and a half months old, and that, aside from being underweight, he was actually in fairly good condition.

“He was very thin, dehydrated, and scratched,” said Julie Potter, business and development manager at Paws Crossed Animal Rescue. “Mostly, he was just terrified of people and completely unsure of himself — can you blame him?”

Despite everything, it didn’t take long for Laces to open up to all his new companions, and soon the entire shelter had fallen passionately in love with him. He adored hugging and loving on everyone, so no one was shocked when he had a possible new home barely a week and a half after coming at the shelter.

Lisa Salvadorini, an anchor for News 12 Westchester, was reading a story about Laces when she fell in love. She felt he was intended to be a part of her family the instant she saw him.

“I was reading the morning news at 5 a.m.,” Salvadorini explained. “When I saw his adorable little face, I told my co-anchor, ‘I need to bring that kitten home!'” Everyone in the studio, even those who aren’t cat people, adored Laces and thought it was a brilliant idea.”

Salvadorini returned to Paws Crossed Animal Rescue the next day to meet Laces, and he verified her feelings that he was intended to be her cat. Her two children had never had a cat before, and she was certain that Laces would be the finest first cat a family could possibly have.

Salvadorini took Laces home as a “foster to adopt,” and once he’s ready to be neutered, she and her family may make the adoption official. She chose not to tell her children about Laces until she brought him home, and they were blown away when their mother walked in with a small cat that wanted nothing more than to love them forever.

“It was a complete shock,” Salvadorini said. “They couldn’t believe they had a new kitten!” When they first met him, they were overcome with joy. Since then, they have showered him with love.”

Laces has already completely settled into his forever home, and couldn’t be happier with his new family. He loves meeting all of his new family’s friends and neighbors, and after hearing his story, everyone is shocked at what a happy and playful kitten he is. Laces hasn’t let his past slow him down at all, and now he has a lifetime of happiness to look forward to with his amazing new family.

“The shelter gave him the name Laces,” Salvadorini said. “We love it, because we have now turned something negative into something positive!”