PROCTORVILLE, Ohio (WSAZ) -- A dying kitten trapped in a storm drain was the center of a controversy Wednesday in one small town.

A passerby heard the cat meowing and said she couldn't get the Proctorville police to help save it.

Tabitha Berry heard meows coming from under the ground in a sewage drain.

“I just don't like to see them suffer,” Berry said.

Berry went to the city where she said she couldn't get the Mayor or police to help.

Proctorville’s Mayor, Charles Stapleton said he checked out the drain, but didn't see a cat and told Berry not to lift the grate to save the animal.

“The case was they were going to get a crowbar and get it loose, and I said pick it up and out of the ground,” Stapleton said.

“The city didn't help cause there aren’t' any revenues available for rescuing cats out of drains,” Officer Mike Vaden said.

Vaden said they could try to use a net and pole.

“Going inside there would be dangerous. It’s close to traffic and they could get hit by a car coming out, Vaden said.

When that didn't work, Berry and three friends went against the wishes of the police and removed the iron grate to save the kitten, but it was too late.

“It's just pitiful nobody will do anything for animals or even kittens,” Berry said. “There's another cat still alive down there.

No word yet if another cat has been found in the drain, but it's a situation Tabitha Berry hopes city leaders will take more seriously if it happens again

Unfortunately the cat did die late this morning.

There’s no word yet if the other cat believed to be in the drain has been rescued.