A stray kitten trapped inside a Komatsu excavator at a Barberton, Ohio job site is now on track to become a construction company's newest team member, after a crew supervisor spent the better part of an afternoon working to free her from beneath the machine. The kitten, since named Sue, weighed just 1.34 pounds and was estimated to be about six weeks old when she was pulled from the equipment.
According to WBAL News Radio, River Reach Construction first reported on social media that a kitten had become stuck inside one of its excavators at the company's Barberton site. Operating supervisor Chase Guello led the rescue, and he later said the mission ended up being about freeing a kitten rather than fixing a piece of equipment. Per the Akron Beacon Journal, Guello freed the kitten on July 14 by removing the heavy metal skid plate from underneath the excavator, a protective panel normally used to guard the machine's internal components.
A Two-Day Ordeal in Summer Heat
Guello told WBAL the crew could not find the kitten's mother and that the kitten had meowed excessively before she was rescued. The crew suspected she may have been trapped inside the metal machinery for up to two days in summer heat, according to the same Akron Beacon Journal report, so Guello immediately moved her into an air-conditioned office trailer to cool down. Dark, dense equipment left in direct sun can heat up quickly, and the belly pans of heavy machinery offer the kind of dark, enclosed shelter that draws stray animals in search of warmth or security — a pattern Embrace Pet Insurance flagged back in 2023, when it advised equipment operators to knock on hoods or inspect undercarriages before starting engines.
From Stray to Shop Cat
River Reach Construction shared a rescue video on social media, and the story quickly grew a following. The crew ran an online naming poll, and on July 21 the company officially announced the kitten would be called Komatsu, with “Sue” adopted as her everyday nickname, according to a report on Medium. River Reach Construction took Sue to a known kitten foster family, and she became healthy after staying in their care before returning to the company.
WBAL reports that Guello said Sue will be cared for by shop mechanic Jared and his family, who are fostering her at home. Per The Times of India, the family commutes with Sue to the Barberton shop yard under the company's shop cat plan, a routine that will continue until she is old enough to live full-time as the resident shop cat. The crew also coordinated with Akron-based One of a Kind Pet Rescue to secure a medical evaluation and additional foster support for Sue before she rejoined the company.
A Corporate Hard Hat and a Viral Moment
Sue's story did not stay local for long. Komatsu, the manufacturer of the very excavator she had been trapped inside, mailed her a custom-built, kitten-sized yellow hard hat and high-visibility safety vest, which the crew showed off on social media on July 30, as reported by Fix Radio. Sue has received other gifts from brands as well, part of a wave of attention that turned a single job-site rescue into an international feel-good story.
River Reach Construction is headquartered in Barberton and specializes in stream, river, and wetland restoration projects across Northeast Ohio, according to the company's own site. Sue has become part of the crew's family, and she is expected to eventually take on the role of the company's official shop cat, a familiar tradition in industrial yards where cats have long done double duty as pest control and morale boosters.
A Regional Shelter System Under Strain
Sue's rescue also lands amid rising pressure on animal shelters in the region. The Humane Society of Summit County reported in February that shelter animal intake had surged 30% year-over-year, with the shelter housing between 200 and 350 animals on any given day. Local shelters in Northeast Ohio have leaned heavily on private foster networks and workplace adoptions to absorb that volume, making arrangements like River Reach Construction's shop cat plan for Sue part of a broader community effort to place stray animals outside the traditional shelter system.
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