The desperate cries of a tomcat stuck up a tree for three days led to a full-scale rescue operation in Palmerston North.
Fire officer Austin Pomana risked razor-sharp claws yesterday as he scaled a two-storey high phoenix palm tree – much to the relief of animal-loving students from neighbouring Our Lady of Lourdes School.
The feline saga began on Saturday when city resident Kathryn McKenzie heard cat meows coming from her tree near Botanical Rd.
"It had just been crying all night and all day," she said. "It just seems cruel to leave it up there to die."
She called the Palmerston North Fire Brigade on Saturday, but the cat was left for a couple of days to see if it would clamber down in its own time. However, the cries were getting more desperate yesterday. After a visit from the SPCA, the Fire Service was called to action.
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