Posted: June 25, 2008 2 a.m. EDT
A cat has been stuck in a 68-foot tree in Matt Slaby’s yard for five days, and the Denver resident hopes the ad he placed on Craigslist.org, a classified website, will help him find someone to rescue the animal, the KUSA Channel 9 News reports.
“Nobody knows who owns him; it’s probable that he’s feral,” Slaby said on his ad, describing the cat as a Siamese with blue eyes. “Really need someone with a cherry picker or tree climbing gear to get to the top of this tree … there’s just no ladder or conventional way to reach him.”
Slaby turned to the internet after seeking help from local agencies. He said animal control, local rescue groups and the fire department either don’t have the resources to rescue the cat or will charge a fee to do so.
Phil Champagne, public information officer for the Denver fire department, said the department does not have a written policy against rescuing cats from trees but explained that crew safety may play a role in a station’s decision to attempt to retrieve an animal. “We generally have left it up to an officer’s discretion,” Champagne told KUSA. “When we go to help a cat out of a tree, two things happen. They get spooked and climb higher into the tree or they get combative.”
Slaby hopes to find help before the cat gets dehydrated or slips and falls.