A cat was saved from a moving garbage belt in the town of Ulyanovsk in Russia. Worker Mikhail Tukash picked up a white plastic bag from the belt and when he opened it, he saw two eyes looking at him. There was a black and white cat staring at him.
“It (finding the cat) happened by accident. We must slash every bag to see if there is metal inside. We collect metal. So, it happened by accident,” Tukash said.
Since the cat’s rescue on Monday, he quickly became a local celebrity, which led to him being adopted by the Ulyanovsk region’s environment ministry.
“The cat was on the brink of death,” the ministry said on Wednesday. “A little more, and he would have ended up in the trash separator.” The cat was all healthy after a veterinary exam.
Pictures from the ministry showed the cat napping in a chair at the office of environment minister Gulnara Rakhmatulina and exploring his new environment. The ministry has announced a nationwide contest to choose a name for the male cat.
“I want to appeal to pet owners: remember that you are responsible for those you have tamed,” Rakhmatulina said. “If you can’t keep your pet at home, you can always leave it in good hands or at a shelter.”
