Someone in Toronto freed a trapped TTC bus with kitty litter in a total hero move

Who knew that kitty litter could do more than absorb the stinky waste of our furry feline friends? I, myself, only learned in the last 12 hours that the pee-absorbing clay substrate is capable of freeing an entire TTC bus full of passengers stuck in the snow.

A vicious winter storm walloped Toronto with a record dump of snow on Wednesday, causing mayhem on city streets and forcing the TTC to pull 41 bus stops out of service. This preventative measure may have saved some buses from the grips of the snow, but others did indeed wind up stranded due to the weather.

News crews were drawn to the scene of a stabbing aboard a TTC bus at Old Mill amid Wednesday's snowfall, including television cameraman Tony Fera.

A short distance from the scene at Old Mill, Fera was captured on video by storm chaser Tom Stef helping to free a snowbound bus packed with passengers, using the apparently underutilized power of cat litter.

Good Samaritan @tonyfera1 helping to save a stuck TTC bus with kitty litter…#ONStorm pic.twitter.com/UUH0LwERTy

— Tom Stef (@vaughanweather) January 25, 2023

The clip shows Fera dispersing the absorbent material below the tires of the bus as it struggles to gain traction on the slippery road, gradually inching itself closer to freedom with the help of a product designed for your cat to go bathroom time in a box.

Cat be like: Where did the litter in my box go to?

— Gerry L (@lee_gerry) January 26, 2023

Though the moment when the bus finally emerges from its snowy clutches is not captured on film, Stef confirms in a follow-up tweet that the off-label use of cat litter actually did the trick, and the bus full of passengers was soon off on its way.

It did!

— Tom Stef (@vaughanweather) January 26, 2023

But the fact that it was cat litter (and a good Samaritan) that came to the rescue is what really has people talking.

Okay, that’s crazy. Kitty litter never works for me! I’m going to try again next time I’m stuck though.

— Tamara 🧶 is yarnified (@tea4tamara) January 26, 2023

It's reminiscent of the January 2022 blizzard that saw a group of good Samaritans band together to help push a TTC bus free from the snow, and Doug Ford's reaction to that same blizzard where he got to work with a ridiculously-small shovel.

At the cottage?

— Covid is Airborne (@MathStudio_Usha) January 26, 2023

Though it worked in a pinch here, kitty litter should never be anyone's go-to option for snow removal or even giving a vehicle some traction.

Salt and sand are much more efficient, but considering how much of Toronto reside in apartments and condos, cat litter might be the more readily available option for some.