A video of a man rescuing a cat during Hurricane Ian in south-west Florida has gone viral, prompting praise from many viewers.
My boyfriend saved a cat from flood waters near Bonita Beach, wrote Megan Cruz Scavo in a caption that accompanyed a video of her boyfriend, 29-year old Mike Ross, trudging across knee-deep water on Wednesday afternoon to rescue a stranded cat.
The terrified orange and white cat was sitting atop an air conditioner in Bonita Hills, south-west Florida, as it tried to escape the torrential waters beneath it.
Ross, who was forced to evacuate to his parents home because his own house was 10 ft underwater, spotted the cat at around 2 pm when he looked outside the window, he told the Washington Post.
The hurricane had yet to make landfall, but the storm surge had rushed up, he said.
Ross is shown trudging across rapid-flowing waters as he makes his way towards the cat in the video. As he nears the cat, he gently picks it up and holds it tightly towards his chest.
The cat appears to be wet and clings tightly onto Ross, occasionally looking at the camera. Ross's mother Marybeth Ross filmed the rescue and can be heard saying, Look at Michael saving the kitty. The video has been viewed 3.4 m times on Twitter and has received praise and celebration. I am sorry, Megan, but he is now everyone's boyfriend. I don't make rules, wrote one user.
Watching him approach the cat with respect was beautiful! That poor sweetie was clearly afraid and trusted him to care for it, someone else said.
Other people have expressed concerns about the many more animals that will not be saved during the storm. This kitty was saved, but I daren thoud not think how many others won't be. One person wrote that it broke my heart.
Ross and his girlfriend have named the cat Ian and launched a fundraising page to raise money for their home, which was badly damaged by the hurricane.
They wrote that they were a young couple in Naples, FL, who are trying to restore our home which suffered terrible damage and the homes of others after the devastation seen from Hurricane Ian. Half of the proceeds raised by this donation will be donated to the Naples Humane Society in honor of Ian and all people and pets affected.