A veritable army of firefighters and community volunteers spent the better part of three days attempting to rescue a cat precariously stuck in a tree more than 30 feet off the ground.
Ultimately they were unsuccessful in preventing injury to the cat. Still, the sense of a community coming together for a common purpose wasn’t lost on Greenwood Realtor Tish Goodman.
“What a nice good thing. That’s why I like living in a small town,” she said.
Firefighters responded to 106 W. President Ave. on Saturday. Fire Chief Marcus Banks said he was called that night to get his opinion about the situation.
“Typically, we don’t do things like that,” he said. “But, being a pet owner myself, I told them to go over there to see if they could help.”
Firefighters, using 24-foot ground ladders, were not able to rescue the frightened feline.
Banks said often in such cases, if a cat is left alone, it will come down on its own.
On Monday, another rescue attempt was undertaken, led by Austin Wilkey, owner of A.W. Tree Service, who provided a bucket truck. Goodman said the bucket, operated by Bubba Ruscoe, approached the treed cat slowly so as not to frighten it more.
Others assisting with the rescue operation on the ground were McLeod Meek and some people from the Fred T. Neely accounting firm, including Bobby VanDevender, Goodman said.
The men held a safety net in case the cat fell from the three-story-high perch.
VanDevender said he was outside the company’s offices and noticed the cat’s owner attempting to lure the cat down with food.“She was really upset. The cat was in the tree, and she couldn’t get the cat down,” he said.
VanDevender said the rescue party had good intentions. “I wanted that cat out of that tree,” he said.
As Ruscoe approached the cat’s perch, he attempted to grab it. The cat started fighting, and Ruscoe lost his grip. Meek attempted to catch the feline as it fell three stories, Goodman said.
Meek’s arm was cut. After eluding Meek’s grasp, the cat landed on a fence and fell to the ground, Goodman said.
The cat soon righted itself and fled. “In a split second, he was gone,” she said.
Meek said the cat was recovered and taken to a veterinarian for an examination. It has since been discovered that the cat suffered a broken spine in the fall.
Meek said the vet told the cat’s owner that the animal’s condition will have to be watched carefully over the next few days. It could be that the cat will lose some of its mobility in one of its legs as a result of the fall.
Meek said the whole affair has had a profound impact on the cat’s owner.
“She’s really upset,” he said.
