5:35pm Saturday 28th November 2009
By James Nadal
A TERRIFIED tortoiseshell kitten was rescued from a 35ft conifer tree this afternoon after a two day ordeal.
Five Firefighters from High Wycombe reunited Dotty Dorris - a seven month old tabby - with her owner Chrissy Carlton after a call from the RSPCA just after midday.
The feline had become stuck in the branches of the tree in Mill End Road on Friday.
She was brought down unharmed but soaking wet.
Mrs Carlton, 46, said: "She was up so high we couldn't actually see her, we just heard the mieowing.
"She was cold, soaked and a bit traumatised when she got down but I think she's learnt her lesson."
Mrs Carlton, who also owns a parrot, two dogs and two horses, said: "The fire crew were absolutely fantastic, I can't thank them enough."
Crew manager Rob Green said: “The lady was very happy to have her cat back, it was a bit shocked and distressed when we got it down.”
It took about an hour and a half to get it down in what proved to be a tricky operation.
Crew manager Green said: “We tried teasing it down with cat food which we had in a bucket after putting some ladders up adjacent to the tree.
“We put the bucket on a long rod with the food in it. After that we tried with the RSPCA’s net and it wasn’t too happy with it.
“In the end we had to use our hose lines to sort of spray water above it to push it further down the tree and then force it into the net itself. It took quite a long time.
“We tried coaxing, reaching and had to resort to that in the end.”
Firefighter Alex Mason was the successful crew member to bring the feline to safety.
Crew manager Green said: “ He was marvellous.”
Despite cat rescue being viewed as a stereotypical job for a fireman, it is normally other creatures who need to be helped, he said.
“We get called out relatively regularly for animal assistance where various animals are stuck in various different things, cats are quite rare because they usually get down in the end,” crew manager Green said.
“It’s only when the RSPCA feel there’s a welfare issue for the animal we get called out.”
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