Pilchards and chicken lured out terrified diesel-smelling kitten after four days under news kiosk

A tiny kitten was rescued from underneath a London underground station news kiosk after it was too distressed to leave for up to four days. Celia Hammond Animal Trust was called by concerned onlookers who attempted to help the black cat outside Leytonstone Tube station on Sunday evening. People tried to coax him out with food and toys but he was too scared to move.



Eventually, representatives from the trust managed to persuade him to leave his hiding place using a manual trap. A spokesman for the trust said: “It was so distressed and crying pathetically but when we got there late at night, when it was quieter, it became clear that we had no chance of getting a hand near enough to catch it, even with a tempting bowl of chicken.

“We had to resort to using a manual trap, which was very risky as by opening up the gap at the bottom of the kiosk to put the trap there, the kitten had the opportunity to bolt out into the bus bays only feet away. After a nail-biting couple of hours, the kitten finally crept out for pilchards and chicken in the trap and we caught him, what a relief.” The trust now has the kitten in its care and has decided to call him Diesel.



The spokesman added: “We can’t imagine how he got there but as he smelled of diesel, we think the most likely scenario is that he got up into the engine or some other part of the undercarriage of one of the buses pulling in, jumped out when the bus stopped and bolted into the first hole he found behind the kiosk. He was so, so scared when we got him back to the clinic but we’re sure he must have been a pet as, although still stressed, he is now beginning to think we’re okay. Depending on how he settles down, we think we have a home for him with another kitten.”