When Manny pulled up to work the other day, he expected a typical shift with his fellow landscaper. They had a couple of tasks on their to-do list, but all that came to a halt when Manny started hearing muffled cries from a dump trailer on-site.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Manny told The Dodo.

Manny dropped what he was doing and approached the dump trailer, wondering if he might’ve been mistaken. But he soon heard the cries again and quickly identified them as those of at least one kitten.

“They were so deep in the dumpster, it was hard to hear at first,” Manny said. “I walked around the entire dumpster first to make sure the kitten noise was coming from it.”

After confirming the cries he heard were real, he jumped into the dump trailer with his coworker and began sifting through the trash pile. As they removed pieces of debris from the dumpster, they could hear the cries more clearly — and they realized there was more than one baby trapped inside.

“I felt a sense of urgency,” Manny said.

But despite the urgency, Manny knew he couldn’t rummage through the pile too quickly — doing so could hurt the hidden babies.

“[W]e didn’t want to crush them,” Manny said. “It took roughly an hour of digging and gently moving stuff …”

It was an arduous task, and one neither Manny nor his coworker had planned for that day. But their efforts were worthwhile when they finally reached the first kitten and successfully pulled him out.

Manny held on to the little calico kitten while his coworker continued digging for more babies. When they uncovered another one, Manny had to figure out a safe place to put the first baby in order to receive the second.

So, he looked down and realized that the pockets in his work jacket and pants seemed deep enough to fit a tiny kitten. He gently placed the kitten in his pocket, who fit perfectly, then reached out to grab the second one.

Manny kept filling his pockets with babies until, finally, his coworker pulled the last one out from the pile. Before they knew it, both men were returning to their work vehicles with their pockets filled with kittens. And even though rescuing four kittens wasn’t technically on their to-do list, they felt more productive than ever before.

“Pulling them out gave us a sense of accomplishment,” Manny said.

Manny drove the kittens to the animal shelter and contacted local trappers for help catching their mom. While the kittens recuperated from the ordeal at the animal shelter, Manny continued searching for their mama — a quest that’s still ongoing for the dedicated rescuer.

“We are checking the trap daily,” Manny wrote in an Instagram comment. “She has been seen but not trapped …”

You can watch footage from the rescue here:

Manny desperately hopes to find the kittens’ mom soon and reunite the tiny family once and for all. But no matter what happens, Manny is confident that the kittens will never be on their own again, especially the one he hopes to take home forever.

“They’re in good hands with Michigan Humane,” Manny said. “I fully plan on adopting one if I can get there in time.”

Only time will tell if the kittens will get to reunite with their mom, but one thing’s for certain: Their future is bright thanks to Manny and his coworker’s quick thinking.

And while Manny has moved on to new job sites and tasks since finding the kittens, he still can’t stop thinking about them. He showed up to work that day expecting to complete his usual tasks — but leaving with his pockets full of fluffy kittens made the shift totally unforgettable.