Rescuing Cats from trees?

We had this HUGE discussion in school about firefighting, and the first words my friend (he's from another country) said about Firefighters is that they put out fires and rescue animals from high places.

Has your company gone to rescue a cat, or maybe even a dog, from a high point?

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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on January 11, 2011 at 1:45pm

you're a bad old man... hurting the innocent kitty...

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Permalink Reply by DUST on January 11, 2011 at 2:28pm

Ha,ha sounds like a good fire house!

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Permalink Reply by Nenad on January 11, 2011 at 4:32pm

In my region (Istra, Croatia ) there are a lot of caves, so it's not unusual that firefighters or mountain rescuers rescue animals from depth. Cats on trees - frankly, I've never seen cat sceleton on a tree.
Positive public opinion can be bigger with saved animal lives than many humans - sad but true !
We rescue animals when there's no big danger for rescuers, and if the action doesn't weak operative capability.

http://regionalexpress.hr/site/more/filmska-akcija-spaavanje-make-n...

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Permalink Reply by Vincent Webster on January 11, 2011 at 5:17pm

My record is 6 for 10. The four cats that we couldn't get were just too high up. We will not go higher than a 35 foot extension ladder. Too risky in case we fall and besides I have never seen a cat not come down from a tree. Most people in the community seem to understand if we are not successful and accept the fact the cat will most likely come down at some point. I have learned you better put on your turn out coat and helmet with eye protection when you get ahold of them though.....damned claws are sharp.

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Permalink Reply by dano martinez on January 11, 2011 at 7:01pm

Hi, SARAH!!! We had a call this past summer where a dog had fallen into a shallow old dry well. We just put a ladder down into it and one of our FFs climed down to get the dog. It was a Lab-mix of some sort, probably weighed 85-90 lbs.. Never a cat or flightless bird though. Haven't rescued too many hot chicks either. ;(

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Permalink Reply by Vic Silverfish on January 11, 2011 at 7:38pm

You know I respect your ability, I was more trying to make a rhetorical point that animal rescue is not nearly as dangerous as people rescue. I'd rather grab a 10lb cat any day than carry a 150lb person down a ladder.

I am totally OK if a department does not have the time or equipment for this sort of thing. Capcity makes the point that his department runs themselves ragged on EMS calls so does not have time for non-emergency service calls. I used to be in the neighbouring department, and we would make time for this sort of thing (we had better ambulance coverage). Additionally, both of these jurisdictions have an animal control board for this sort of thing.

That said, "waiting for a real emergency", especially in a smaller department with low call volumes means you hang around watching TV at the station whilst a problem goes unsolved. The public hates stuff like that. They don't care about law, charters, responsibilities, etc, they just want the problem fixed.

I'm trying to think about how we would explain this to a civilian; running into a burning building, donning a haz-mat suit, or tackling an aggressive patient with a head wound are all acceptable risks, but a non-emergency ladder pitch is too dangerous?