"Libertie" -- Liberated on America's Birthday

Details

It was the evening of July 3, and I was perusing Facebook when I received a notification that Kayo from Corinth had recently liked my Cat Rescue page. This set my kitty-stuck-in-tree sense tingling as a "page like" from a new person often means that somebody is searching for help. I checked out Kayo's home page, and she had shared a post about a kitty that had been stuck in a tree for two days, and Janis H. had then posted a link to my facebook page. The original post about the troubled kitty was made by Donna, also from Corinth. Since the next day was 'Murica's Birthday with good but hot weather predicted, all the signs were pointing to a great day for kitty rescue work! I decided to be proactive and cyber-stalked Donna via online yellow pages. I gave Donna a call, told her that I was not a telemarketer and said that I had seen her facebook post about a stuck kitty. After she recovered from her initial surprise, Donna told me the kitty was actually in a neighbor's yard, not her own. Donna and her husband, Buzz, had tried reaching the kitty with a ladder but were unsuccessful. I asked her to contact the neighbors and ask them to call me, and she said "I'm on it!" and hung up. Later that evening, I talked with Sharon, whose yard contained the stuck kitty. She said their own rescue attempts were unsuccessful and she would be relieved if I could help the poor moggie.

When I exited the truck the next morning at Sharon's house, I immediately heard the poor kitty crying for help. Mike (Sharon's husband) met me and led me to the back yard. The kitty was at about 40 feet, and from her cries, wanted to be rescued immediately! During the rope installation, Donna and Buzz arrived and introduced themselves. The wind was blowing steadily, and it appeared that I would be swaying quite a bit at 40 feet, a prospect that made my stomach churn a bit. However, during the rope setup, the kitty kept descending little by little until she was on a branch at approximately 20-25 feet. I donned my Kat Bag before the ascent and started up. As I neared her, the kitty began paw dancing and rubbing on the limb, overjoyed to see me. The kitty made it easy for me to nab her and put her in the Kat bag. The kitty had an ornate non-break-away collar with a metal plate engraved with an inspirational message, but no contact information. When I arrived on the ground, Buzz/Donna/Sharon all snuggled with the kitty before she went into a kitty carrier with food and water. Donna and Buzz are long time animal lovers and pet owners (have 1 kitty currently) and Donna said she would adopt the kitty if the owners could not be found. Donna told me later that the kitty's name would be "Libertie" if she adopted her.