Watch: Kitten takes 15-mile ride in wheel well of search and rescue vehicle

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A kitten has a new home with an Oregon sheriff's deputy after hitching a 15-mile ride in the wheel well of a Search and Rescue team vehicle.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said a truck used by its Search and Rescue team was flagged to be inspected for a rodent infestation after it caught the attention of K9 during a training exercise, but before the inspection could be carried out it was called out to a home in the Vista area of the Columbia River Gorge.

"The truck traveled over 10 miles at freeway speeds and another 5 miles up the winding road to the call location," the sheriff's office said on social media.

The post said Search and Rescue volunteers were gearing up when they heard "a tiny cry" coming from beneath their truck.

"While most of the volunteers headed out into the field, two remained behind to disassemble a wheel-well on the truck to reach the inner mechanical spaces. What did they find? A small black kitten," the post said.

"It wasn't until we climbed up into the engine basically with the flashlight that we could even tell that she was down here," volunteer Lindsey Lohr told KOIN-TV.

The kitten, now named Vista, was treated for fleas and a cold and now has a clean bill of health. The feline also has a new home, courtesy of a sheriff's deputy.