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Kittens Stow Away Aboard Hayward Construction Truck, Travel Down To San Diego

SAN DIEGO (CBS SF) -- Construction workers in San Diego were recently shocked to discover a litter of five kittens that stowed away on a truck that had delivered building materials from Hayward in the Bay Area all the way to Southern California.

Officials with the San Diego Humane Society said DPR Construction workers were at the job site of the future Kaiser Permanente Clairemont Mesa medical offices currently being built three weeks ago when they heard tiny meows coming from a 60-foot steel column that had been brought down from Hayward.

The construction workers tried coaxing the kittens out with food to no avail. Eventually had to tip the column up on one end to get to them out. A total of five kittens slid out of the column.

"Don't kill them! We gotta save 'em," one of the construction workers told the San Diego Humane Society. "We didn't know how old they were or how long they'd been without food or water. We were just trying to make sure that we were taking care of them and we didn't lose any of them."

The construction workers called San Diego Humane Society for help with the litter. Officers picked up the one-week old kittens and transferred them to the SDHS Kitten Nursery for 24-hour care.

metal kittens rescued San Diego Humane Society 3
Kittens rescued from steel column in San Diego (San Diego Humane Society)

According to the SDHS, the kittens are now four weeks old and doing fine. They have been named after construction tools and materials. The three males and two females are Crowbar, Rebar, Chisel, Jackhammer and Piper.

Humane Society officials said the kittens will remain in foster care until they are old enough to be put up for adoption.

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