West Valley City’s pipe robot, R2D2, brought a stuck kitten out of a Utah drain
A kitten was stuck in a drain pipe in West Valley City, Utah, and would not come out. The city’s stormwater crew sent in R2D2, the remote-controlled robot it uses to inspect pipes, and it nudged the kitten out.
26 October 2026
Photo: West Valley City, via KCRA
The stormwater crew in West Valley City, Utah, got a call on Monday 12 October about a kitten in a drain pipe, the city said on Facebook.
The crew found it with a pole camera, but the kitten would not come out. “They used a pole camera to locate the cat and tried to coax it out, but it wouldn’t budge,” the city’s post said.
So they sent in R2D2. It is a custom remote-controlled crawler with a live camera and lights, and the crew normally uses it to inspect the city’s pipes.
“R2D2 gently nudged the kitten out of the pipe and into the arms of one of the crew,” the city said. The kitten did not appear to be hurt, KCRA reported.
“R2D2 is usually used to inspect pipes, but now it can add ‘kitten rescuer’ to its list of functions,” the post said.
Carry a story in five words
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Yesterday: On the morning Winnie-the-Pooh turned 100, a black-bear got in at Mammoth Lakes, California, left the books alone and ate the library staff’s honey, cookies and peanut butter. The five were black-bear ate library staff’s honey.