Cat in Irvington, NJ saved from starvation — head stuck in a jar for days

IRVINGTON — A Christmas Day rescue has saved the life of a cat that had been unknowingly escaping help for days.

Long Island resident John DeBacker, an animal rescue worker, was visiting family in New Jersey for the holidays, but he kept getting pinged online about a cat that had been wandering around Irvington with a jar stuck on its head.

Several residents had tried to help, but the cat kept evading capture.

Then, on Christmas morning, a neighbor had eyes on the cat outside a home on Hennessy Place, and DeBacker drove 30 minutes from Middlesex to see if he could get a hold of the feline.

Video posted online (below) shows DeBacker stealthily approaching the cat behind a shed. The cat appears to be looking right at DeBacker as he's approaching. When the cat eventually attempts to run away, DeBacker swoops down and grabs it.

"He got it, yes," a neighbor can be heard saying on the video.

DeBacker placed the cat in a carrier with the help of a neighbor. After allowing the cat to calm down, DeBacker easily pulled the jar from its head.

"If the cat wasn't caught, he wouldn't have lasted more than another day or two, because he couldn't eat or drink or breathe," DeBacker told New Jersey 101.5. "He's very lucky we caught him in time."

DeBacker said the cat will be scanned for a microchip. If it doesn't belong to anyone and appears friendly, it'll be put up for adoption. Or the cat may be spayed, vaccinated, and returned to the neighborhood.

DeBacker advises residents to crush their cans and plastic jars before discarding them. The jar in this case had no label, but DeBacker believes it was a plastic peanut butter jar.

"This is actually very common," DeBacker said.

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