A man had to be rescued by a firefighter after he was stuck in a tree trying to save his pet cat.
The RSPCA was called on to hear reports of a cat poking a tree on Further Heights Road in Rochdale, Greater Manchester – but the owner had to be rescued first.
A woman found the cat in a tree in her garden, which she believed it had been five days, and called the animal welfare organization.
Stephen Wickham, an animal rescuer, was on his way to the scene on Monday February 15 when he received a call from the Greater Manchester Fire Department to say they were on hand to rescue the pet’s owner .
The cat’s owner was stuck in the tree and tried to save himself. The firefighters had to use a ten meter ladder to bring him down.
The man and the cat are in the tree at the top of the ladder
A firefighter then climbed the ladder to reach the trapped cat, but when he grabbed the cat safely, the frightened cat fell from the branch he was on, landed on one below, and was then able to jump to safety.
Stephen was there to check the cat’s health – but the moggy ran home before he got the chance.
He said, “I worked for the RSPCA for 25 years and during that time I have been called to numerous cat rescues – but this is only the second time in my career that I have been to a rescue where the poor owner also pinned the tree also high.
“In this case, the owner had to be rescued, and it turned out that the cat managed to bring itself down
“In the vast majority of cases, cats are very capable of throwing themselves from a tree. Unless there are special circumstances, we recommend that owners persuade their pet with strong smelling food like fish, and if that doesn’t work, call us back after 24 hours.
“After that time, an RSPCA officer will be visiting to see if we can help. However, it is important that humans not try to save a cat from a tree by themselves. The RSPCA and the fire brigade are fully trained to deal safely with such incidents. “
