- Home
- Local News
- Sports
- Business
- Entertainment
- Life
- Opinion
- Photos & Video
- Help
- Jobs
- Cars
- Homes
- Classifieds & Deals
- Local Directory
Life feed
Things to do e-mail
Life mobile
Facebook
Home
>
Life
>
Pets
Staff photo by Jan Underwood
Dash, a 7-week-old kitten, is recovering after being found with a mangled right leg that had to be amputated. Staff photo by Jan Underwood
Photo from the Animal Medical Center of Springboro
Missy and Molly dismantle Molly's dashboard in search of the kitten.
Photo from the Animal Medical Center of Springboro
X-ray view of Dash's leg from the side.
Photo from the Animal Medical Center of Springboro
Dash once she was out of the car dashboard.
Kitten survives being hit by car, rescue from dashboard, leg amputation
Hot Topics
By Lawrence Budd,
Staff Writer
Updated 11:33 AM Thursday, July 1, 2010
MIAMISBURG — A stray kitten, nearly killed after it was run over on Austin Boulevard a week ago, has had its leg amputated while gaining a bit of animal celebrity.
The kitten has been affectionately named “Dash,” because of the efforts a cast of strangers took to rescue her twice in one day.
On June 22, Molly Baker said she was driving her Chrysler Pacifica on Austin Boulevard to take her 11-month-old son, Elliott, to a pediatrician appointment in Springboro when she spotted the kitten.
“It was raining really hard. I noticed something roll out from under the car in front of me,” she said.
Baker stopped, put the kitten in her car and drove to the pediatrician’s office.
When she returned to her car to place the kitten in box with a blanket, it was missing. “I put two and two together,” she said.
“There was this meowing in my car. I knew it was still alive.”
After the pediatrician treated Elliott for strep throat, Baker headed to her vet, Animal Medical Center of Springboro.
Vet technician Missy Sortman, who had once rescued a cat from her car dashboard, grabbed tools and headed out to the parking lot. “I could feel a little fuzz, but I couldn’t get the right angle,” she said.
Ty Swain of Dayton, who was at the clinic to get pet medication, joined the rescue efforts. After an hour of trying, their efforts failed.
So Baker drove 10 miles to Walker Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Dayton in Centerville. About 15 minutes later, a mechanic handed Baker the kitten in a box.
“I went over and looked at my car. It was in about 100 pieces,” she said. “They didn’t charge me a dime.”
A service technician drove the Bakers and kitten back to the vet’s office in a courtesy van while the mechanics put her car back together.
X-rays showed Dash’s right front leg would need to be amputated or the kitten would have to be euthanized.
Dr. Valerie White agreed to perform the amputation at cost, $200 paid by Baker. The vet’s office has picked up other expenses in sheltering the kitten.
Baker had already named the kitten, Dashboard, or Dash for short, when she heard it “scratching from behind my steering wheel. That’s when I named it.”
The clinic has spread Dash’s story on Facebook, and the tale is getting hundreds of hits. Dash has been recovering at the clinic’s Miamisburg office.
“She’s pretty agile,” White said. “I’ll probably take her home. It’s time for her to start getting ready for a home.”
Baker, who works in marketing for Iams, said she will donate six months of food to Dash’s new owner.
“It’s been really fun. It was so great how everybody came together to help this poor kitten,” she said.
Stay updated on Dash's condition on the Animal Medical Center of Springboro's Facebook page.
Share this article
Get e-mail tips on things to do
ActiveDayton.com's free twice-a-week e-mail newsletter highlights five things you can do in the Miami Valley.
See Sample | Privacy PolicyView All
Home Tours
Latest lifestyle blog posts
- Kristen Stewart as a Blade Runner in 'Snow White and the Huntsman'
- Travel Channel coming to film at local barbecue restaurant
- WSU prof, Yellow Springs resident to be featured in awareness campaign
- Forbes lists Dayton as nation's most affordable city
- Multiple Starbucks shops close abruptly this morning; company cites water filtration maintenance issue
- > Earlier Life blog posts
About our ads
About our adsCopyright © Sun May 27 07:55:48 EDT 2012 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All rights reserved.
By using this site, you accept the terms of our
Visitors Agreement and
Privacy Policy. AdChoices
. You may wish to note our
other business policies.
User comments are not being accepted on this article.