Kitten gets stuck in Mercedes Benz E-Class engine bay: Rescued after a mammoth 6 hour effort!

The presence of mind of a Surat based businessman saved the life of a kitten that got stuck in the engine bay of his  Mercedes Benz E-Class sedan. Service personnel of a Mercedes Benz service center in Mumbai had to disassemble parts of the engine bay to get to the kitten and rescue it.

How did it happen?

While it’s not known as to how the kitten managed to get into the engine bay of the Mercedes Benz E-Class, it was the owner’s pet dog that was also traveling in the car that alerted the businessman to the presence of the kitten. The  pet dog started barking after hearing the mews of the stuck kitten.

This prompted the businessman to alight from the car and investigate the matter. While the businessman spotted the kitten inside the engine bay, he could not rescue it. Finally, he decided to get Mercedes Benz authorized mechanics involved, who managed to rescue the kitten after a mammoth 6 hour rescue effort. Many parts of the engine bay had to be removed to access the stuck kitten, which could have been frightened by all the attention.

Here is a first person account of what exactly happened from Jayeshbhai Tailor, a fish exporter from Surat, who is  also the owner of the Mercedes Benz E-Class sedan in which the kitten got stuck,

My dog suddenly barked after which I heard a meowing sound. The meowing sounds continued. I asked my driver to stop the car and check if any cat was under the vehicle or stuck somewhere. The driver didn’t see any cat but I had heard the meowing sounds. I got down and saw a kitten near the engine. I insisted on waiting and try rescue the animal. Locals also tried helping us…some mechanics were also called. But no one could hear or see the kitten. Eventually, I called up the Mercedes Benz service centre, which asked me to come to Kalina [Santacruz East, Mumbai].As we reached there, they tried spotting the kitten but they didn’t see it. We tried banging so that the kitten could meow, but she remained silent. She had slipped inside. After that I asked the service centre mechanics to open the car and the engine was opened. I could see an ear of the kitten and I asked the mechanics to use camera’s zoom-in so that they could see it. Finally, after six hours, they spotted the kitten and rescued it.

It’s not uncommon for animals to get trapped in the engine bays of cars. Many animals are attracted to the engine bay due to the warmth generated by engines, especially in freshly parked cars. Such incidents mainly happen during  winters. Just the other week, we had an incident of a cobra getting stuck inside a BMW’s engine bay.

So, when faced with such a situation, it’s best to call in the experts instead of attempting to rescue animals stuck  in the engine bay. Also, it’s a good practice to tap on the bonnet of cars that are parked overnight to alert animals that may have taken shelter either under the car or inside the bonnet.

Via IndiaToday