SavATree arborist Randy Ziemienski recently made one black cat and his grateful owner very happy. As Randy was setting up his crew in an Arlington Virginia neighborhood, a woman frantically approached him, exclaiming how her neighbor’s cat had been stuck in a tree for two days. When he went over to survey the situation, Randy spotted Nova about 40 feet up in a large black cherry tree, crying and whining in distress. Since the tree was located in the back yard without any truck access, he returned with his climber, David Bonilla.
David needed something to put the cat in, so before he started to climb he was handed a plastic bag. Climbing the tree was the easy part; the cat was clearly very nervous and uncomfortable with the bag as well as the stranger. Finally David was able to flip the bag over his head, close it around him and begin the descent.
Nova’s owner was overjoyed to be reunited with her pet. They are a military family and her husband is currently serving in Iraq. Randy was happy to help her out at no charge. “I’ve been an arborist for forty years and never before had the opportunity to rescue a cat from a tree,” he remarked. “It really made my day!”
