A Lorain man and the kitten he rescued last week will be VIP guests at this weekend’s Woolly Bear Festival in Vermilion.
Tim Pitroski said he saw a woman throw the small, female tiger-striped kitten down and embankment and into Lake Erie behind his apartment building Monday. A friend retrieved the kitten because he doesn’t get around well, he said.
Pitroski and Lilly — the name he gave the kitten — will be special guests of festival patriarch and Fox 8 weatherman Dick Goddard. And Pitroski’s bittersweet hope is that he’ll be going home without Lilly, as Goddard is helping him find her a new family.
He said Goddard provided him with VIP festival passes, parking passes, VIP passes for the boat club afterward and — most importantly — a promise to take Lilly up on stage with him and help her find a new home.
“He said he knows some people, and he’ll make sure she gets a good home,” Pitroski said.
The huge one-day festival honors the woollybear caterpillar but also — thanks to Goddard — puts pets in the spotlight each year.
Giving the 6- to 8-week-old kitten up will be hard for Pitroski, who calls himself an animal lover, but concedes that with two cats and a beagle in his one-bedroom apartment, he can’t take any more.
Pitroski said he calls Lilly a cuddle-kitty because she can’t get enough of him — except when she’s snuggling up with the beagle, who she sleeps with.
“If I could keep her, I would,” he said, adding that he’s had animals his entire life — alligators, raccoons, a squirrel monkey and horses. He even had a pet squirrel for three years when he lived in one of Lorain’s high rises, he said.
Pitroski said he recognized the woman who threw Lilly into the lake from the neighborhood and is hopeful police will arrest her. Police aren’t optimistic they’ll have resources to devote to the investigation due to being short-staffed, Sgt. Mark Carpentiere said today.
Anyone interested in adopting Lilly can contact Pitroski at 242-0969.
Or look for him Sunday enjoying his and Lilly’s notoriety at the Woolly Bear Festival.
For Pitroski, who is a disabled veteran, it will be a big day.
“I don’t get out much, so I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.
