Editor’s Note: On Monday, we ran a photo by John Ulaszek of five adorable yet abandoned kittens in an alley. Ulaszek contacted two rescue organizations to help, but they both said they were too overwhelmed to be able to do anything. But as he writes below, the story of the kittens did have a happy ending.

One cannot simply post a photo of helpless kittens and expect the Internets to be satisfied. Fortunately, something could be and was done. On Tuesday, the Washington Humane Society’s Danielle Jo Bays executed a daring daylight rescue of five kittens in a dingy and mean alley near Union Market.

We arrived in the early afternoon when the alleys at Union Market are noisy and bustling with the activity of trucks and forklifts, so we were surprised to see the kittens brazenly loitering outside. As we approached with traps, they warily retreated through a hole in the fence.

Kittens are cunning predators, so Danielle took care to stealthily set the humane traps baited with cat food and carefully backed away—lest she be the victim of their natural instincts. With the traps set we settled in to wait, and after almost five minutes they finally started to wander out and investigate, driven by hunger and the usual cat-like curiosity.

It wasn’t long before a trap snapped closed as a kitten stepped on the pressure plate in the back of a cage. It frantically reached out to its siblings for help but ultimately lost interest in its imprisonment and went back to eating.

The long-haired female that stood in the foreground of Monday’s photo again rose to the challenge of attempting to free the captive siblings, to no avail—she was ultimately trapped herself. The fourth kitten entered a cage but mocked us by dancing merrily around the pressure plate while enjoying a delicious meal at our expense. At the risk of injury, Danielle heroically reached in and closed the door on number four. Finally, as despair overtook the fifth, it gave in to its hunger and despondently wandered into the last cage.

Now that the kittens are off the street, they are in need of a foster home where they can grow and gain confidence in people. If you can help, please email foster (at) washhumane (dot) org. If you want to be like John and rescue kittens from alleys, the Washington Humane Society’s Cat Neighborhood Partnership Program could use your help. Email catnipp (at) washhumane (dot) org to learn more.