Massachusetts Firefighters Rescue Tiny Kitten From Station Dumpster Before Finding Him a Home

Taking out the trash isn’t usually the part of a firefighter’s shift that makes headlines, but this story deserves a little attention. Two Stoughton firefighters found a tiny kitten inside a bag in their station’s dumpster. What began as a routine morning chore into a rescue. Now that kitten has a name, a welcoming home in Rochester and a loving SouthCoast family looking out for it.

On September 15, Firefighter/Paramedic Kristian Roch was taking out the trash at Stoughton’s Station 2 when he noticed something moving inside the dumpster. He headed back inside to tell fellow Firefighter/Paramedic Timothy Guillotte. Neither knew exactly what was waiting among the garbage.

“I said, well, you sure it’s not a rat or a possum or a raccoon?” Guillotte recalled. Roch wasn’t sure, so he put on his protective gear, and Guillotte joined him outside. Inside a bag, they discovered a tiny kitten.

A Little Meow and a Gentle Rescue

As Guillotte recorded, Roch carefully retrieved the kitten, speaking in a gentle, high-pitched voice. Guillotte told me Roch was a little embarrassed about his kitten voice afterward. Personally, I think that makes the moment even sweeter.

Guillotte wrapped the kitten in a towel, and the firefighters found a bin to keep it safe. How it ended up inside the dumpster remains unclear, although Guillotte believes someone put it there because it was too small to climb the surrounding concrete enclosure. Thankfully, Roch noticed it in time.

A New Home in Rochester

Guillotte’s wife, an animal lover whose family whose family owns a farm in Rochester and has adopted quite a few animals, wanted to welcome the kitten home. “So naturally we took it,” Guillotte said. She named it Meeko after the raccoon from Pocahontas.

READ MORE: Westport Soldier, New Bedford Firefighter Returns Home to Surprise Daughter

Meeko also visits GMEC-EMT, where Guillotte is a co-owner and Roch serves as an instructor. A routine trash run brought these firefighters an unexpected rescue and the Guillottes a new family member.

Massachusetts Firefighters Rescue Tiny Kitten From Station Dumpster

In the end, Guillotte's wife was the one who said it purrr-fectly: “Firefighters don’t only save cats from trees. They save them from dumpsters, too.”