A bowl of Friskies was not enough to lure Cici down. Neither was, "Here, kitty, kitty." The cat's owners spent several frantic but futile hours in search of help before Cici's ordeal ended in a dramatic bare-handed grab by tree specialist Ron Harrington Jr., who was the only professional willing to attempt a rescue. Valerie and Robert Thomas noticed Cici was missing at about 9pm on Friday, and spotted her atop the utility pole Saturday morning. Thomas said she called Good Will Fire Company of New Castle, but they were unable to help. Assistant Chief Bob Schmidt said the volunteers there occasionally use a ladder truck for a cat rescue, but never near power lines. Thomas said she also called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but was told the group doesn't have resources to rescue stranded cats. The SPCA declined to comment when questioned about the incident by The News Journal. The Thomases also called Delmarva Power, the company that owns the utility pole, and were told a crew would be sent if the cat didn't come down eventually. The utility didn't return calls Saturday. Robert Thomas finally pulled Harrington's name and business, Ron's Tree Service, out of the phone book. Harrington and his partner Gary Lewis used a brand-new 65-foot Versalift bucket truck to lower the cat to safety. But each time Harrington got close to Cici, she would walk out onto the power lines. To touch the kitty while she was on the lines would complete a circuit, sending thousands of volts through them both, Harrington said. "It was a very dicey situation. I was nervous about it, but figured we'd give it a try," he said. After about seven or eight attempts, Harrington pulled Cici into the bucket. "I got scratched up a little on my hands, but I'm glad it worked out for myself and the cat," he said. The only way Cici could get to the utility pole, Valerie Thomas said, is by climbing a tree and walking across power lines. "She looked uncomfortable. She would get up on her tippy toes like she wanted to get down but didn't know how," she said. Thomas said such defiant behaviour is out of character for the normally sweet and gentle Cici. She blames peer pressure, and believes her kitty has fallen in with a bad crowd. That's how she got pregnant. The cat is expecting a litter any day now. "We have a suspicion about who the father is. We think he may have been a bad influence," she said. The Thomases say Harrington refused to accept payment, but they paid him anyway - an amount they hope is enough to cover fuel, time, labour and scratch marks! |
