MONROE - A rescued kitty in Monroe has a new life, several heroes and an honorary position on the Monroe Fire Department.
Merit, as she has been named, is "definitely a lover and clings to my wife Deidre and daughter Skylar," said Jim Kundert, a five-year veteran of the Monroe Fire Department.
Kundert was among the small crew called in by Fire Chief Daryl Rausch on Labor Day to retrieve a frightened six-week-old kitten caught in the floor joists between the ground floor and basement of a home on 10th Street.
Rausch said the call came in about 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 2: A kitten had crawled through a hole in the second-floor bathroom wall and, as small as she is, probably fell two stories to the ground floor bathroom.
Rausch said the owner of the house may have been doing some remodeling or had already opened a piece of wall that covered a sewer pipe and vent stack to get to the kitten, when he arrived on the scene. Rausch opened the wall further, only to discover the kitten had moved beyond that area to under the floor boards. At that point, he called in the engine crew, he said, to make a hole in the underside of the floor.
The crew tried to pinpoint where the kitten actually was, before attempting to cut out the floor below it - with the homeowner's permission to do so.
"Jimmy (Kundert) used his cell phone to see where the cat was inside, so we didn't cut her," Rausch added.
Merit's rescue took about an hour, and the firefighters didn't know how long she had been in there. She was acutely scared when they reached her.
"She clung to the first rescuer, who reached in and got her," Kundert said, "and they just kept handing her back to the next one."
Merit was so small she "fit in the palm of your hand," he added.
Kundert discovered the homeowner had recently found the kitten and intended to give it a flea bath before turning it over the Green County Humane Society.
He resisted the immediate urge to further rescue the kitten from the adoption process, until he talked with his family. Just a couple hours later, he called back to ask for the kitten, who has become the firefighters' honorary mascot.
"It didn't take long to decide," Kundert said. "My daughter has wanted a kitten for a long time. She wanted it right away."
Merit was named after the MERIT Center, a regional emergency, fire and rescue training facility, being built entirely with donations by the firefighters.
"We wanted (her name) to have something to do with the department," Kundert said.
Merit, the rescue kitty, had a visit with her new veterinarian, who determined she was in good health and put her age at six weeks. She has a follow-up visit to start her vaccination schedule.
Merit is proving to be worthy of her name. Kundert said she has "settled in real nicely" with the family, which includes Skylar, 5; son Paxton, 2; and two dogs.
Merit's rescue, adoption and naming coincided with another event for the MERIT Center last week.
On Sept. 3, the City of Monroe Common Council approved an endowment fund agreement and a special projects fund agreement between the Monroe Fire Department and the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin Inc., creating two accounts to collect donations for further development of the MERIT Center.
Accumulated funds in the special project account will be used to construct the already planned classroom facility and other developments, such as a gas-field fire area, construction of a SCBA confidence course and the development of a farm rescue area.
The interest earned from donations and other funds in the endowment account will be used for offset long-term costs of operating the MERIT Center.
Merit, as she has been named, is "definitely a lover and clings to my wife Deidre and daughter Skylar," said Jim Kundert, a five-year veteran of the Monroe Fire Department.
Kundert was among the small crew called in by Fire Chief Daryl Rausch on Labor Day to retrieve a frightened six-week-old kitten caught in the floor joists between the ground floor and basement of a home on 10th Street.
Rausch said the call came in about 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 2: A kitten had crawled through a hole in the second-floor bathroom wall and, as small as she is, probably fell two stories to the ground floor bathroom.
Rausch said the owner of the house may have been doing some remodeling or had already opened a piece of wall that covered a sewer pipe and vent stack to get to the kitten, when he arrived on the scene. Rausch opened the wall further, only to discover the kitten had moved beyond that area to under the floor boards. At that point, he called in the engine crew, he said, to make a hole in the underside of the floor.
The crew tried to pinpoint where the kitten actually was, before attempting to cut out the floor below it - with the homeowner's permission to do so.
"Jimmy (Kundert) used his cell phone to see where the cat was inside, so we didn't cut her," Rausch added.
Merit's rescue took about an hour, and the firefighters didn't know how long she had been in there. She was acutely scared when they reached her.
"She clung to the first rescuer, who reached in and got her," Kundert said, "and they just kept handing her back to the next one."
Merit was so small she "fit in the palm of your hand," he added.
Kundert discovered the homeowner had recently found the kitten and intended to give it a flea bath before turning it over the Green County Humane Society.
He resisted the immediate urge to further rescue the kitten from the adoption process, until he talked with his family. Just a couple hours later, he called back to ask for the kitten, who has become the firefighters' honorary mascot.
"It didn't take long to decide," Kundert said. "My daughter has wanted a kitten for a long time. She wanted it right away."
Merit was named after the MERIT Center, a regional emergency, fire and rescue training facility, being built entirely with donations by the firefighters.
"We wanted (her name) to have something to do with the department," Kundert said.
Merit, the rescue kitty, had a visit with her new veterinarian, who determined she was in good health and put her age at six weeks. She has a follow-up visit to start her vaccination schedule.
Merit is proving to be worthy of her name. Kundert said she has "settled in real nicely" with the family, which includes Skylar, 5; son Paxton, 2; and two dogs.
Merit's rescue, adoption and naming coincided with another event for the MERIT Center last week.
On Sept. 3, the City of Monroe Common Council approved an endowment fund agreement and a special projects fund agreement between the Monroe Fire Department and the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin Inc., creating two accounts to collect donations for further development of the MERIT Center.
Accumulated funds in the special project account will be used to construct the already planned classroom facility and other developments, such as a gas-field fire area, construction of a SCBA confidence course and the development of a farm rescue area.
The interest earned from donations and other funds in the endowment account will be used for offset long-term costs of operating the MERIT Center.