The April 20, 2011 edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a story from Anderson, S.C. Apparently, Buster, the family cat was scared up a 150 foot pine tree near their home. As is often the case, going up the tree was the easy part. After phone calls to the Humane Society, animal control, the police department and the fire department, the cat ended up staying in the tree for 9 days. No one wanted to rescue Buster.
The fire chief was quoted as saying they don't provided this service to the community anymore due to "liability issues." This made me pause. This would be a more serious liability issue then sending men and women into burning houses? Or are they more concerned about being sued by the cat owner if the cat would jump out of the tree and hurt itself? Remember back in the day when firefighters were always available to rescue cats from trees? It was good to be a cat then.
Buster stayed in the tree for 9 days (through two storms) before his humans took matters into their own hands. One 40 foot ladder and presumably a bucketful of kitty treats later, Buster once again had all 4 paws on the ground.
While I can understand the family's frustration with local officials, I have strong opinions about the cat being outside to begin with. I have previously written an article about the issues with allowing your cats outside. I'll post it for you to have a look.
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