GUNTERSVILLE, Alabama – Workers arriving at the Big Lots store Monday morning were surprised to hear a pitiful mewling sound coming from a vending machine on the sidewalk.

They recognized a kitten when they heard one.

"It sounded like it had been crying for a while," said Big Lots manager Candice Biggs.

The male bob-tailed tabby had managed to crawl into a tiny hole in the back of a Dr Pepper machine and couldn’t get out, Biggs said. No one heard the kitten Sunday night before closing so it likely got stuck overnight, she said.

Addie Grace Smith of Guntersville holds Pepper, the kitten she adopted after it was rescued by a Guntersville Animal Control officer from a Dr Pepper vending machine. (Contributed by Guntersville Animal Control)

“We heard it outside crying but we couldn’t get it out,” Biggs said. She called Guntersville Animal Control and Officer Mike Henderson arrived with a scope to look into the machine.

“It was between the plastic where it says Dr Pepper and a door,” Henderson said. He had to pull aside a divider to get to the kitten.

“It was scared to death when he got her out,” Biggs said.

Henderson gave the kitten to Addie Grace Smith, a friend’s granddaughter who had wanted a cat. Addie named the kitten “Pepper.”

Follow Kelly Kazek on Twitter. Email her at kkazek@al.com or call 256-701-0576 or find her on Facebook.