Neighbors work to help cat stuck in tree for days
By Ryan Trowbridge, Matt Sottile
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HOLYOKE, Massachusetts (WSHM-LD) — A viewer reached out to Western Mass News about a situation in Holyoke that has caught the attention of many in the community. A cat has been stuck in a tree for days and people are trying to help.
“Comcast has tried to help me, people have tried to climb the tree, but the closer you get to the cat, the further up it goes,” said Nilda Albelo of Holyoke.
This is Gato, Albelo’s cat, who has been stuck in a tree at the intersection of Maple Street and Jackson Street in Holyoke for more than four days.
Albelo told us she’s reached out to the Holyoke Police and Fire Departments and the situation has the whole neighborhood talking.
“I’ve called the fire department. They said they don’t take cats down no more,” Albelo added.
Carlos Rodriguez is one of many neighborhood residents stopping by regularly to check on the cat and he voiced his concerns with Western Mass News that Gato may be climbing up too high and could soon be out of reach.
“I tried to grab a ladder to see if I could bring it down, but right now, it’s higher. There’s no way to bring it down,” Rodriguez added.
Albelo said she checks on the cat every morning and afternoon and countless people have come by her house to help.
“Every day, there’s a knock at the door or there’s a big crowd here,” Albello said.
She told us Gato is an indoor cat and this is his first time outside. Should action be taken or will the cat climb down eventually? We took our questions to Hannah Orenstein, supervisor of animal control at the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center in Springfield.
“Typically, when indoor cats get outside, they hide out or hunker down somewhere, so it sounds like this cat is probably just hiding in the trees, pretty stressed out probably, and that’s why he’s not coming down,” Orenstein explained.
Orenstein said it’s not an easy situation for animal control services to handle, especially with the cat up so high in the tree, so we asked who could help Gato?
“Cable companies, because they have bucket or ladder trucks, tree removal companies also sometimes are able to assist.” Orenstein noted.
She said even two to three days could be a long time for a cat that’s only been indoors. Western Mass News reached back out to Albelo and connected her with Orenstein to try to team up, provide her resources, and help Gato get home safely.
“In most cases, we try and have the owner own that, but certainly, if it came down to it where the animal was in immediate harm’s way, we would try to step in and help as best we could.”
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