When auto mechanic Don Doucette opened the hood of an SUV on Wednesday, he saw a fur ball staring back at him.

A cat, likely, a stray, was stuck in the engine block. The owner of the vehicle brought the SUV in for servicing when she smelled a strong odor of cat urine.

“I just happened to look down at the air box and the headlight and I saw the cat still stuck,” Doucette said. “I didn’t know what to make of it. It freaked me out a little bit.”

Doucette was surprised the orange tabby was still alive.

The cat was taken to Springfield Animal Hospital and treated.

The cat has an injured paw but is expected to fully recover. Hospital staff believes the paw was most likely burned from being in the engine.

If the cat is not claimed it will be put up for adoption.

In Wednesday’s bright spot, there’s a lot of puppy love to go around at one nursing home in Cumberland County.

An 8-year-old chocolate lab named Ella along with a 10-week-old black lab-golden retriever mix Casey are temporary residents at Green Ridge Village in Newville.

A cat also roams the halls there.

The animals were brought in to help create a more homey environment for the residents.

“It definitely, in our facility since the animals have been here created interaction with resident to resident, animal to resident and brought them out of their rooms on a more regular basis,” said Michael Stuck, Nursing Home Administrator.

The puppies go home at night with staff members until they are old enough to stay there full time.

THIS is Lucky, the four-week-old kitten taken from from his mother and rescued with only 24 hours to spare.

Now the RSPCA is to step up security after two women called at the RSPCA shelter, in Redcross Street, on Saturday afternoon and immediately took an interest in the tiny kitten.

They were told he was too young to be taken from his mother.

But 30 minutes later staff made a shocking discovery that the catpod’s door had been forced open and the black kitten was missing.

Fortunately, a concerned supporter of the charity found the animal quite by chance and returned him to the shelter, where his ordeal has earned him the name ‘Lucky’.

Had he been found a day later it could have been a very different story, according to Jean Spencer, manager of the shelter.

She said: “We were very concerned about the kitten. If he hadn’t been found in 48 hours he would have been dead.

“We were devastated when he disappeared and there were tears in our eyes, but they became tears of joy when he was found by one of our supporters.

“She had disovered it on Sunday at a house she visited. I must stress the two women who visited the shelter do not live there.”

Returning to the shelter slightly dehydrated, Lucky is said to be making a swift recovery aided by his foster mum, Heidi, a cat who has adopted the abandoned little one as if he was her own.

But the shelter is now looking to introduce CCTV in the cattery to prevent further thefts, along with extra bolts on the pens.

“It is absolutely disgusting that someone could take such a vulnerable animal,” added Mrs Spencer.

“We are going to have to launch a fund-raising appeal to have some cameras installed.

“In the meantime, we will be looking to press charges when these women are caught.”

BIRD-LOVER Robert Knox is in a right flap after his beloved red-tailed buzzard made a bolt for freedom.

The hefty bird of prey, named Inca, streaked into the sky after being scared by a motorbike near Welham Green woods last Sunday.

And even though his feathery friend has been spotted a few times over the last 10 days, Robert has so far been unable to entice him out of the treetops.

Now he is calling on eagle-eyed WHT readers to help him find his pet.

The 37-year-old, from Garden Avenue, Hatfield, said: “My legs have been aching like hell because I’ve been walking everywhere, asking people if they’ve seen him.

“I’ve got attached to him. He’s been coming out with me every day since I got him five weeks ago. It’s quite distressing.”

He said he had been out training Inca with a falconry glove when the bird got tangled in his leash.

Robert unclipped the cord to free him but at that moment a young biker came tearing past over the field.

“He must have got scared and just flew straight up into the trees,” said the dad-of-three.

He said Inca should be able to look after himself in the wild but that didn’t stop him worrying.

Robert, who also owns a pair of European eagle owls and two Harris hawks, said: “He should be ok but you can never tell.

“He eats rabbits and pheasants and things. He might actually be doing us a favour taking out some of the rabbits!”

- Red-tailed buzzards are typically 55cm long with a wingspan of around 120cm and weigh in at roughly 1kg.

They make a loud mewing call which sounds like “pee-uuu”, according to the RSPB’s website.

A Brooklyn man accused of dog-napping a litter of pit bull puppies in Stapleton over the weekend could face up to 15 years in the pound.

Cops say Joshua McKinney, 20, kicked in the front door of Jeanette Roman’s Canal Street home Saturday afternoon, wrapped seven 3-day-old pit bulls in a blanket and ran.

Ms. Roman gave chase, and police caught up with McKinney on Tompkins Street, according to cops

McKinney then threw the puppies to the ground and tried to run, but was apprehended by police.

Ms. Roman told the Advance Saturday that she knew McKinney from the neighborhood, and at one time invited him into her home because he didn’t have a place to live. She said she booted him out when items started disappearing from her home.

Ms. Roman said her pit bull, Pee Wee, gave birth to 15 puppies four days prior, and 10 survived. Although the seven pups were returned to their mother, three remained unaccounted for.

Authorities charged McKinney with second-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth- and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, fourth-degree criminal mischief and petit larceny.

If convicted at trial of the burglary charge, a class-C violent felony, McKinney could face a determinate sentence of 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison.

He’s currently being held on $10,000 bail on Rikers Island.

A tiny kitten cheated death after he was snatched from his foster mother at an animal shelter.

RSPCA staff in Rochdale have now named him Lucky after he was rescued dehydrated and with less than 24 hours to live.

Security is to be stepped up at the Redcross Street shelter after two women showed an interest in the four-week-old kitten.

They were told he was too young but 30 minutes later staff found a door had been forced and Lucky was missing.

He was found by a concerned supporter of the charity by chance and has made a swift recovery from the ordeal.

Jean Spencer, from the shelter, said: “If he hadn’t been found in 48 hours he would have been dead.

“It is absolutely disgusting that someone could take such a vulnerable animal.

“We are going to have a fundraising appeal to have some cameras installed.”