The day was colder than anyone would have liked for an outdoor photoshoot. A thin blanket of snow covered the ground in Greeley, Colorado, each step crunching softly underfoot.
But Angel Talitha Dougherty and her dad weren’t about to let a little winter chill spoil their plans. Photography was their shared passion, and they had already come too far to turn back.
What they didn’t know was that their camera wouldn’t capture the day’s most important moment. Something far more urgent was about to demand their attention.
Not long after arriving at a local park, they heard a strange sound. The faint cries guided them to an ordinary-looking trash can — but what they found inside was anything but ordinary.
At the very bottom of the metal bin was a small black cat. His wide eyes seemed to beg for help, and his tiny body trembled in the cold.
It looked as though he had been trapped for hours, curled up in that freezing, cramped space with no way to climb out. The smooth metal sides offered no grip, and his little paws were likely too numb to even attempt an escape…