New Yorker Sees Cat Dart Across Subway Tracks as a Train Approaches. Her Next Move Saves Its Life (Exclusive)

Snix used the power of social media and connectivity to help return Scarlet the cat to her owner

NEED TO KNOW

• Content creator and event performer Snix was waiting for her train at the subway station when she saw a lost cat on the tracks
• She took a video and posted it to her TikTok account
• The video went viral and Snix was able to help get the cat back to her owner after being lost for over four months

Snix, a content creator and event performer, was waiting at the Bowery subway station in Manhattan's Lower East Side one night when she looked up and saw a cat in the middle of the tracks. Unsure what to do, she whipped out her phone and started recording.

With the train just one minute away, she desperately tried to find someone to help. She then noticed an MTA worker mopping the floor and asked if they would be willing to help rescue the cat.

However, when they went back to the tracks, the cat was gone. The worker told Snix that the cat had been down in the subway for weeks.

To raise awareness, Snix posted the video on TikTok, attached a viral sound, and went to bed. It went viral overnight, amassing 1.6 million views, one of which was the cat's owner.

When Snix woke up, she saw that the cat's owner, Diana, had commented on her post. She identified the cat as her service animal, Scarlet, who had been missing for nearly five months.

From there, Snix and Diana began texting back and forth. Diana often visited the subway station in hopes of rescuing Scarlet and kept a list of all the times she saw her. However, she was never able to find a way to get down to the tracks to rescue her pet without compromising her own safety.

At the same time, Snix was posting video updates on her TikTok account, and hundreds of people suggested she reach out to one of the reputable animal rescues in New York City. In the meantime, the two women also raised the issue with the MTA, but were transferred to the New York Police Department and then the New York City Fire Department. However, no one seemed eager to step in and help.

The MTA did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

"What concerns me is that there is no kind of communication when it comes to finding animals in the wild in New York," Snix tells PEOPLE. "A lot of people call 311 or 511. But there's no immediate poster or notice. There is nothing about animal safety and control." 

Once they got in contact with one of the animal rescue organizations, they informed them about Scarlet's sightings and submitted a request to the MTA to make the rescue a high priority.

Thanks to her TikTok videos, Snix says, "with so much awareness and transparency on what's going on, people came together and helped."

One night, she says a man messaged her on Instagram, saying, "I don't know anything about this. I don't know anything about cats. I just saw your video, and I happened to look up, and the cat was right in front of me."

The man texted his friend who lives in the area, and they brought a trap and sat in the subway station for hours trying to lure Scarlet out. After setting out a cat milk replacer, they were able to trap her and bring her to the ASPCA. 

The ASPCA cleared Scarlet, and she and Diana were finally reunited. Diana burst into tears after getting to hold her for the first time again. She held the tuxedo tight all the way home.

Diana later told Snix she feels like "God has given [her] a second chance," noting that she doesn't know what would have happened if the content creator hadn't posted that initial video.

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With the week-long effort finally over, Snix shared the good news with her followers.

"I made my final update, letting everyone know and thanking them. I don't think without them all, any of this would have been possible," Snix tells PEOPLE. "That's what's crazy about social media; one little thing can come in and work together. There's such a big emphasis on community, helping each other." 

Snix was inspired by how thousands of strangers worked together to ensure that Diana and Scalet were reunited.

"If this situation has taught me anything, it's that as a community, as a state, as New York City, we have the power to change what we need for our lives," she says.

"Your voice does have power, your stance, your story. Everything you do has a chain, a thread, a link to it. So, as long as we build on solidarity and persistence, New York City can change for the better."