A California sea lion pup was
rescued after it was seen roving around San Francisco on Thursday, giving new
meaning to the term 'trash collection.'
'Rubbish' the pup was saved in
the Marina neighborhood by police and officials from the Marine Mammal Center,
the center said in a news release.
The retrieval took place around
7:00 a.m., after Rubbish was earlier spied hiding under a car, center officials
said.
The Marine Mammal Center's Dr.
Shawn Johnson told KGO 'Luckily the San Francisco Police Department had stopped
traffic around him and was protecting him until we got there.'
According to KRON, the rescue
attempt took around four minutes.
Rubbish was delivered to the
Marine Mammal Center, where Johnson figured out the pup had spent time there
before, center officials said.
Johnson told KGO: 'He was
rescued in Santa Barbara County in February and brought up here for
rehabilitation. He was here at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito for nearly
two months.'
The person who first reported
Rubbish gave him his name, center officials explained.
The center said of the pup's
February rescue: 'Rubbish was eight months old and weighed just 30 pounds when
he was rescued.
Veterinary staff and volunteers
at the Center treated him for pneumonia and malnutrition, and helped return him
to a healthy weight.

