How many fireman does it take to save a treed cat?

Submitted by away on August 27, 2008 - 7:42pm
in

The other night in the bucolic village of LeRoy, a neighbors cat got stuck in a tree and dosen't the Fire Dept (not sure what town or village) show up. There was no less than 4, yes count them 4 ...fire fighters, complete with a "big ol Red Fire Truck" that came to the rescue. Oh, lest we forget, one of LeRoys finest shows up as well. I figure the policeman was there in case the cat tried anything funny and maybe had to be subdued and  arrested.  This whole fiasco was not worth the use of that much resources. 

Now mind you I have five cats myself, and with that many cats, I think I can be considered a cat fancier. I must admit, that I once tried to summon the big Red truck brigade for a treed cat, and to this day I will always remember the sage advice that I was given during that call. "Don't worry sir, you don't often see a dead cat in a tree, it'll come down on it's own" and you know they were right. I have never, nor do I expect to, ever see a dead cat in a tree.                                                                                                                  

 

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sfd83's picture
Posted by scott kibler about 3 months ago
I was at the scene of the cat stuck in the tree in Leroy that night as a favor to the owner of the cat.There are some things that go way beyond just some firefighters wasting time and resoures. 1st thing is that cat is a inside cat and had been in the tree for about 27 hours and was not coming down,the owner was leaving in the am to be out of town for 10 days so she(single mother of 2)called me to see if I could help. Having tree climbing experence I donned my tree spike and went up, but the cat was to high and I could not reach it.
Being a firefighter myself from a neighoring town I know monday nights are training nights for the fire dept. so I called Leroy F.D. to see if they were available to help out in someway. With out any question they gathered 4 firefighters and came to see what we could do. With a little team work we did get the cat out of the tree and made a little girl happy to get her cat back. I know that the fire dept. can not make everyone happy all the time but I think sometimes there are curcumstances where its just good pubic relations to do what you can to help.Remember these guys are volunteers. As far as being a waste of resoures consider it a training exersize and know that if your house was on fire that there would be a unlimited amount of NON PAID personal there to try and help you.
lorie's picture
Posted by Lorie Longhany about 3 months ago
Thank you, Scott and my friends on the LeRoy Volunteeer Fire Dept!
This is what community is all about. And I know from living in LeRoy -- Monday night the fire whistle goes off and our volunteers gather to train so that when the real emergency comes they are prepared.
For a little girl or anyone that loves a pet -- that cat stuck in the tree was a real emergency.
So everyone wins here. The cat is safe and sound, a little girl is happy and the LeRoy fire department had a really good training session.
GeeDaveDee's picture
Posted by GeeDave Dee about 3 months ago
I was going to agree with the waste of resources and I am a cat owner/lover BUT......
I had to climb a ladder and helped get a cat down for someone.
I also waited for a cat coming down on its own, it sometimes takes days.
If it was my cat (pookey) I would be as sad as that poor little girl and family, but please dont tell anyone.

I agree that something "positive" came out of this and sometimes things dont seem so bad after you get a chance to hear both sides of a story.
Posted by Woyvel Lloyce about a month ago
Scott, nice restraint on your comments to Away. Away, being a cat lover, were you going to climb the tree and help? These are the same individuals that get up in the middle of the night to answer calls for help whether it's neighbors here in the village or travelers on the Thruway. Also, learn a little about your community. LeRoy has a volunteer fire department that covers the town and village. We should be thankful for that, not critical of their urge to assist when asked.
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