Subway Shuts Down After Adorable Kittens Get Loose on Tracks

If you live in a city with a mass transit system as sprawling as that of New York City, then you know that all sorts of things can screw up service (weather, passengers holding the doors, disembodied human heads), but has the reason ever been this cute? Late Thursday morning, the Metropolitan Transit Authority was forced to suspend service at the Church Avenue subway station in Brooklyn after a cat owner reported that two kittens had somehow gotten loose on the tracks.

After the pet owner made the report, electricity was cut from the rails and the MTA employees began their search, telling annoyed and delayed passengers that service had been suspended because of “ongoing NYPD activity.” Come on, MTA, you’re talking about adorable kittens here! Don’t you think this might be the one time subway riders would be sympathetic to the truth? (Apparently not. As one passenger told the New York Times, “I’m pro-cat, but this is absurd.”)

After nearly two hours of searching, MTA employees were forced to give up and resume service, but not before warning conductors “to proceed with caution in the area where the cats were last seen.”

The cats were finally found (very much alive!) around 6:30pm on the tracks north of Church Avenue. There are some reports that the kittens are now available for adoption.

Please celebrate/enjoy the rest of your day by singing “Stop dat train for kiiiiiittens” to the tune of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Stop That Train.” You’re welcome. You’re very welcome.