PHOENIX — Emily Perea was driving on Interstate 10 for about 15 minutes on Monday when she noticed something didn't sound right.
"[I was] listening to a podcast and I started to hear some squeaking noises. So, I turned the radio down and then I realized that it was definitely a cat. So, I pulled over on the side of the freeway," Perea said.
Sure enough, one cat was under the car's hood and the other was in a gap on the passenger side. Perea knew she couldn't reach the kittens, so she called her boyfriend and DPS to help.
"The officer came, and he was like, 'Are you sure she's alive?' And I was like, 'Well, she was meowing pretty loud so I think she is.' And so he actually took his baton out and touched her on the forehead and she meowed, and he was like, 'Oh, we gotta get someone out here right away. She's definitely alive,'" explained Perea.
Shortly after, a roadside assistant arrived with the tools needed to remove the tire and a piece of the car to grab the second kitten.
"We grabbed her out and she gave me a good bite on my finger and was pretty vocal. Since then, they've been just the sweetest little things. I think they were just really scared from being in the car," said Perea.
Perea took the kittens home to bathe and feed them before dropping them off at the Arizona Humane Society on Wednesday.
"Thelma and Louise, because they had such a crazy little ride. That's what we've been calling them," Perea said.
The two got examined and received shots — much needed after the rough ride they had. Staff at the Humane Society believe they are about five weeks old.
"We're hoping that both of them can get adopted, hopefully together, just because they do love each other so much. But either way, as long as they go to a safe loving home... that's really what we're hoping for," said Perea.
The kittens are looking for their fur-ever home and will be up for adoption at the Arizona Humane Society.
