Charlotte Varcoe
emergency situation services reacted to a unique callout on Wednesday to help a young cat stuck about 40 feet high in a tree after leaving his home.
Beloved family pet, one-year-old Ollie left his home prior to adding a big tree in a neighbours yard where he was stuck for about 50 hours in rain, hail and shine all while triggering turmoil for his family.
Tracey Lowrie called emergency situation services on Wednesday after Ollie left the day previously.
Ms Lowrie informed The Border Watch he was an indoor cat at first however had actually gone out and vanished.
“We heard him meowing and searched everywhere before finding him,” Ms Lowrie said.
“It was at 9pm at night when I shined my light on the tree that I realised he was up there.”
The next day, after making various efforts at getting the young cat down, the concerned owner required to social networks for recommendations when she was informed to call emergency situation services.
After calling the station house Ms Lowrie waited in anticipation regarding whether they had the ability to help.
“We did try and get him down and he only turned around on the branch but wouldn’t come down,” she said.
“He just sat there and wasn’t moving so we put food on the roof incase he tried to come down but he didn’t come down for that either.”
Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) station officer Adrian Puust said rescue services worked along with the State Emergency Services (SES) by participated in the address on the Wednesday to exercise how they might help.
He said the place of the tree in addition to sheds and fences would make it challenging for firemens to utilize their equipment without putting themselves in threat.
“We decided to wait another 24 hours and come up wit ha better plan with how to rescue Ollie,” Mr Puust said.
“That resulted in the RSPCA approaching Baxter Hire who donated a cherry picker for us to use due to the RSPCA not having a rescue officer in the Limestone Coast.”
From the neighbouring backyard of Ms Lowrie – which backed onto the backyard with the tree Ollie was stuck in – Mr Puust said it had to do with 30 feet high.
“We had tried to rescue a cat that high once and it actually leapt out from the tree and luckily landed safely before taking off,” he said.
“One of my main concerns was if Ollie was startled, he may jump out of the tree and cats do not always fall nicely because of obstacles in their way.”
He said in spite of the challenging scenarios, Ollie complied considerably with the MFS and SES officers.
“Ollie was desperate to get out of the tree after spending more than 50 hours in it and on a very wet and windy night,” he said.
“He wanted to get out and cooperated very well by leaping into the enclosure we had.”
Mr Puust said emergency situation service responders were more than happy to reunite the furry friend with his family, keeping in mind the determination of the MFS and SES to carry out more “mundane” tasks.
“This shows we are prepared to do the simpler stuff and we are approachable and also have compassion adn understanding of people’s circumstances,” he said.
“In this case Ollie ran out, he had never done it before and soon found himself in the big wide world.”
SES district officer Brad Flew said rescue tasks such as this revealed the collective technique in between the SES and other emergency situation services and was a real testimony to their relationship with each other and the neighborhood.
“It may not have been one of the bigger rescues but continues to show support within the community when we do these rescues and utilises our pet rescue training,” Mr Flew said.
As for Ollie, Ms Lowrie said if he wanted to venture outdoors once again, it would remain in an outside enclosure constructed to avoid this from occurring once again.
