Kitten rescued from a vending machine by a Morristown woman

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Crews with the Morristown Fire Department and a Walmart employee Lindsey Russell rescued a small kitten from a Pepsi machine. Morristown Fire said it’s still unclear how the kitten was able to get inside.

Officials with the fire department said this could’ve been a very tragic situation. Russell said the rescued kitten already has some unique names.

“This is Pepper, Pepsi, Pep, whatever you’d like to call her. She’s got a few nicknames now,” Russell said.

Russell was on her break when she heard a noise coming from the front of the store which sounded like an animal yelling. She went up to the vending machines in front of the store to hear the kitten meowing.

“I tried all through my lunch and my last break to get her. I tried recruiting coworkers to help me get her, and none of us could do it,” Russell said.

Since they were not able to get the kitten out on their own, they did not want to waste any more time and called the fire department.

“We could hear it meowing as soon as we came up. We knew it was in there and kind of stressed out,” Morristown fireman Doug Allison said.

Within 10 minutes and after removing a few panels on the machine, the small kitten was able to get out. Allison said it likely saved the kitten’s life.

“If we can help save a life, animal or human, we’ll do what we can do,” Allison said.

After the kitten got out, Russell felt it would be best to take the kitten home with her. She and her mother have rescued animals for a while.

“I actually rescued another one from Food City a couple of years back,” Russell said.

Russell described the kitten as wiggly and in good spirits. She said she’ll take the kitten to the vet in the near future.

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