Kitten rescued from Commack drainage pipe

An 8-week-old kitten was rescued from a drainage pipe behind a strip mall in Commack early Wednesday morning after its cries were heard through the pouring rain.

The tiger-striped tabby was rescued at about 1:30 a.m. behind Bagel Basket Cafe on Commack Road by two employees of Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Services in Farmingdale after a four-hour effort at the scene.

General manager Mike Fisher said the company’s dispatch was called at about 7:30 p.m. from someone who heard cries from the well.

Fisher said excavation supervisor Mike Katulis and salesman Jaime Santiesteban volunteered their time for the job.

“These guys are heroes,” said Fisher, of Levittown. “They were off the clock at 5 p.m., but I asked them to head to Commack and try and help and they ended up spending four hours in poor weather conditions until rescuing the kitten at 1:30 a.m.”

The kitten was eventually located through a camera that was snaked down the 100-foot-pipe and pulled to safety with a net.

Dori Scofield, vice president of Guardians of Rescue, a Smithtown nonprofit that aids animals in distress, arrived at 10 p.m. and stayed until the kitten was rescued.

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The kitten, which has been named Rooter in honor of her rescuers, will be vaccinated and ready for adoption by next week, Scofield said.

For now, Rooter is staying with a Guardians of Rescue volunteer.

“I’m so happy she got out alive,” Scofield said. “It was quite an effort and we couldn’t have done it without the guys from Roto-Rooter. If it wasn’t for them, she would still be in there. She’s a lucky girl.”