Rumpke driver rescues kitten from landfill

A kitten was discovered by a Rumpke employee ... it was hiding under a portable toilet at the landfill in Colerain Twp. RUMPKE/CONTRIBUTED

A kitten was discovered by a Rumpke employee ... it was hiding under a portable toilet at the landfill in Colerain Twp. RUMPKE/CONTRIBUTED

COLERAIN TWP., Hamilton Co. — A little kitten is alive and in a new forever home all thanks to a very observant Rumpke garbage truck driver.

Steve Johnson was about to make a pit stop at a Porta Potty inside the Rumpke Sanitary Landfill in Colerain Twp. when he heard the cry for help. After a brief search, he discovered a kitten, no older than a few weeks, hiding under the portable toilet.

“She was very scared, but after a few minutes of me petting her back, she calmed right down,” Johnson said.

Johnson brought the kitten back to the main office where other employees fed and cared for it, the company said in a press release.

One employee couldn’t resist its cuteness and decided to take the kitten home.

Rumpke said there was a lot of debate over what the kitten should be named. Land-FILL-o-mina and Fluffy were some fan favorites but the kitten’s new owner decided to go with Coco.

Lucky for Coco, employees are used to rescuing animals.

“Unfortunately, it is an all-too-common scenario to find animals discarded at our landfills,” said Molly Yeager, communications manager, Rumpke. “But fortunately, we have many animal lovers that work here and have adopted them over the years.”

Coco is now thriving in her new forever home all thanks to a man that was just trying to use the bathroom.

“We are very appreciative of Steve, the team’s quick actions and that this kitten is now safe and loved,” said Yeager.

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