Employee Spotlight: Animal Services Officer performs CPR to save kitten trapped in wall

An ordinary stray kitten call turned out to be far from ordinary for Dallas Animal Services (DAS) Officer Sandy Castillo. Castillo responded to a call from a resident who heard scratching and meowing in a wall of the house.

At the house, Castillo searched for an opening to get the kitten out. With the owner’s permission, she cut a hole in the wall and used a long pole to scoop the kitten out of the wall. But, the one-month old, blue eyed, white furry kitten wasn’t breathing.

“You’re not going to do this to me, I said. You’re going to get to the shelter alive,” Castillo said, recounting the moment she finally held the kitten. “I’ve never tried CPR but I did it, I did mouth to mouth because she was going to make it. We were so close; she was meowing earlier, when we arrived.”

It worked. Castillo and her team rushed the kitten to the shelter where she was stabilized, and was soon eating and drinking on her own.  “That was a miracle,” she said. The fact that CPR worked on this kitten gave me purpose in life. I have accomplished something.”