When Mandi Howard suddenly found herself driving to the Toronto Humane Society, singing to calm a badly injured kitten she’d just scooped off a multi-lane highway, there was one thought on her mind: “If he were to die before I can get there, at least he will have known what kindness looks like.”

Howard, a nurse in the Humber River Hospital’s emergency department, had been driving south on Highway 427 on Wednesday when she saw something being thrown out a window. At first, she thought it was a fast-food cup.

“I looked over and I almost hit what was there,” she told the Star. “Then, I saw fur blowing, and I realized it was an animal.”

Howard pulled over just before the Gardiner Expressway and carefully got out of her car, walking along the shoulder of the highway as cars whizzed by. Halfway towards the animal, she realized what it was.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a kitten.’”

Seeing a break in traffic, she straddled the line and waved at the oncoming cars to get them to slow down. She quickly scooped up the tiny animal and brought it back to her car.

“When I picked him up, he was totally out of it, with blood all over him,” she said. “He started screaming.”

The kitten appeared to be about 11 or 12 weeks old. A photograph shows a mangled brown-and-white cat with a tiny pink nose, covered in blood.

“His poor little mouth is busted open and he’s got a tooth missing in the front and his paw was really deformed.”

After getting him in the car, Howard wrapped him in an emergency blanket, careful to support his neck and spine in case of spinal trauma.

She drove straight to the Humane Society’s River St. building. Howard remembers that as she started to sing along with the radio — “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift — the kitten stopped wailing and looked at Howard with his big black eyes.

The kitten was rushed to the care of vets, who treated the kitten, which they’re calling Pedro, for scrapes and broken bones. They sewed up his split lip and put splints on his hind legs — the kitten broke all the toes in his back paws in the fall.

Howard, who had lost her own cat just a week earlier, was asked if she wanted to adopt him; she said yes.

“He is so sweet,” she said. “His entire body fits in the palm of my hand.”

“He’s doing well, he’s eating, he’s a chubby little guy, he loves his dinner,” said Humane Society spokesperson Makyla Deleo. “He’s super sweet. We know he’s going to pull through.”

Deleo said in her six years working at the Humane Society, she’s never heard of an animal being thrown out of a moving vehicle.

“We do see some horrible things, people do mean things to animals pretty much on a daily basis, but this is a first for me.”

According to Section 445.1 of the Criminal Code, it is a crime to intentionally cause pain or suffering to an animal. Deleo said Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information to call 416-222-TIPS.

Howard is no stranger to animal rescue. She is an animal activist and runs an independent cat rescue on the side with her mother in Oshawa. They are working towards becoming a non-profit.

Her cat, May, died during recovery after dental surgery. Howard had rescued May from New York Animal Care and Control the day before the animal was set to be euthanized.

Howard says it’s like May guided her to this kitten.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“This was my day off. I wasn’t even supposed to be there,” she said. “She brought me there for a reason.”

Howard’s actions have also sparked online gratitude, with an indiegogo campaign started at her sister’s suggestion raising more than $2,000 to date to pay for Pedro’s vet bills.

The Humane Society called Howard on Friday to inform her that Pedro is in stable condition and that she may be able to bring him home soon. He is currently fostering with one of the staff veterinarians, where Howard says she’s been told he will remain for around two weeks.