Help! My Cat is Stuck in a Tree: Boston Animal Rescue League to the Rescue

Who knew? Back in the "olden days," it would seem that local fire departments spent as much time rescuing scared kitties from tree limbs as they did putting out fires. Certainly that can't be true, but it made for some heartwarming PR. 

But if your cat is stuck in a tree, who the heck do you call? 

Apparently the Animal Rescue League of Boston is ready to respond, as last week alone, the organization headed to Northborough twice for two separate feline emergencies. 

On June 28, Boston's ARL got a call that a stray was stuck some 30 feet up in a skinny tree on a deep embankment in a Northborough resident's back yard on Wheelright Drive. 

"The responding Rescue Team member set a line in a tree next to the one the cat was in," said Mia Taven from the ARL, "using arborists ropes and a rope system to climb up to the same height as the cat. He straddled both trees and grabbed the cat. The cat was placed in a soft sided carrier and they rappelled down together." 

The caller kept the cat for a while, trying to locate the owner, adding a tag that said "call this number of this cat is yours." The cat immediately ran home, and the owners called, getting an update of the harrowing experience. 

And on July 1, a cat found its way up high in a dead tree on Memorial Drive in Northborough. 

"The dead tree made it difficult to climb," said  Taven. "At the time of the rescue, rain had begun to fall and a tornado warning was in effect! This did not deter the Rescue Team member who climbed up a rope system, retrieved the cat and re-united it with its owners."

Taven said that because the Northborough animal control department does not climb trees or handle cats, residents are asked to call the Animal Rescue League of Boston directly in these situations at 657-777-2752.  

You can donate to the Animal Rescue League of Boston right here.