Like a scene from a holiday movie, Toronto commuters on King Street paused to witness an unusual sight: a stopped streetcar, traffic halted, and strangers coming together to retrieve something from beneath the transit vehicle.
Witnesses say a small orange and white cat had bolted from a woman’s carrier and, terrified by the chaos of Canada’s largest city, huddled between two of the streetcar’s wheels, too frightened to budge.
“‘My cat, it’s my cat. She ran, she’s under the TTC.’ And then I screamed to tell the driver, ‘There’s a cat under the streetcar,’” Pragti Kapoor told CTV News Toronto in an interview.
What followed was a full-scale rescue mission that lasted over 20 minutes — commuters, streetcar drivers, and even passersby braved the biting -10°C cold, working together to save the stranded feline, according to eyewitness reports.
In a now-viral TikTok video, Kapoor reveals a heartwarming scene: nearby shopkeepers carrying out hot food to warm the shivering rescuers, while others grabbed brooms to gently coax the terrified cat. Some even dashed to local pet stores, returning with treats in hopes of luring the little feline to safety.
She reveals the breakthrough moment came from one rescuer’s quick thinking: they taped two brooms together, creating a makeshift tool that gently nudged the frightened cat out from under the stopped streetcar.
Strangers exchanged celebratory hugs, some even shedding tears — a touching moment of humanity that could melt the coldest hearts in the middle of the bustling city.
The video captured at the scene was quickly posted to social media, racking up hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments.
“Faith in humanity is restored,” jotted down one Instagram user.
Instagram comment via @felannecol
“I seriously love how kind people are in Canada,” typed out another social media user who shared she lives in Hawaii and had visited once.
Instagram comment via @susanburnsdesign
Another social media user jotted down “Thank you for the lovely reminder that this city has always been and will always be full of wonderful people, despite how rough it can be sometimes.”
Instagram comment via @linds_black00