Doja

First, a man noticed a cat stuck in a tree in his neighbor's backyard, so he took a picture of it and posted it on the Nextdoor website. Shortly after that, three other neighbors, each unknown to the others, independently contacted me to see if I could help. Unfortunately, none of the neighbors who called me knew the cat, the cat owner or the property owner, but they went to work to identify these people. I needed the property owner's permission to rescue the cat, and I also wanted to return the cat to its owner. While they worked on that task, I went to rescue Sammi and hoped they would have an answer by the time I finished.

Sure enough, shortly after I finished with Sammi, one of the neighbors had found and contacted the property owner and got her permission. While the cat owner was still unknown, I was told that the cat was wearing a collar with a tag, and I was hopeful that I could get contact information there.

When I arrived at the site, I found a fifth neighbor there who had just discovered the cat herself and was on the phone with the Fire Department. To my surprise, she told me that they were sending someone out, so I told her to call them back and tell them that there was no longer any need. She did so, but they decided to come out anyway to check. By the time they arrived, I was installing my rope in the tree. I introduced myself to the three firemen, and they decided to stay to watch the rescue. Of course, the arrival of a fire truck drew even more neighbors out to see what was happening, so a small crowd of neighbors had now gathered to watch.

The cat, an orange tabby, was about 25 feet high, and had been there two nights. He was a little distressed during my rope installation, but I expected him to calm down after a few minutes. I watched him as I climbed up to him, but he seemed to be comfortable with my approach. When I got close to him, he readily greeted me and sniffed my hand. He let me pet him and seemed pretty happy to have some company. I took a quick look at the tag on his collar and saw his name, Doja, on one side, and two phone numbers on the other side. That was just what I wanted to see. I pulled up the carrier and set it on the limb in front of him. He took a look at it, thought about it for a little while and then calmly stepped inside. No food enticement was needed. I closed the door and brought him down.

Back on the ground, the firemen helped me read the phone numbers on the tag while preventing the cat from escaping. I called the first number but got a busy signal. I called the second number and got no answer, so I left a message. While packing up my gear, I continued to call the first number, but it consistently remained busy. Finally, I decided to check the cat for a microchip and found one. I called the microchip company but was told that they could not give me any contact information because I am not an official veterinarian, shelter or non-profit rescue organization. It's probably just as well, since their information was last updated three years ago. I called the second number on the tag again, and, this time, a woman answered. She turned out to be the ex-girlfriend of the cat owner, but she said she would come to get the cat, since her ex-boyfriend is at work. A few minutes later, she called back and said the her ex-boyfriend's roommate would come to get the cat instead. A few minutes later, the roommate arrived, and he took the cat home. I followed him home so that I could get my carrier back, and it turned out that he lived just around the corner a bit. He took the cat inside, released it and then returned my carrier, so Doja is back home where he belongs now.