Jeff Sweeney knew his kitten’s favorite direction was up, but he never expected he’d be strapping on a climbing harness to rescue her from 80 feet off the ground.
Sweeney’s cat Tinkerbell had gone missing, and he and his mom Darlene finally heard her cries and found her up in a pine tree in the backyard.
Tuesday night at 8, Sweeney decided to mount a rescue. But every time Sweeney got closer, the kitten would climb even higher.
The Sweeneys called the Bennington Fire Department, who came to their Balch Farm Road home and rescued Jeff, who’d climbed past the point of no return.
Tinkerbell, however, eluded capture.
“She had been missing for three days,” Sweeney said Wednesday morning. “I probably could have gotten down the tree by myself, but I called the fire department hoping they could get Tinkerbell down, too.”
Sweeney said Tinkerbell had escaped the house three days prior, pushing the screen out of an open window, while dinner was being made. Sweeney and his mother Darlene looked for the cat, and left the light on in case she came back.
“Jeffrey was distraught
because we have seen coyotes in the area and I saw a bear on the porch recently,” said Darlene. “We lost a cat before, so we try to be really careful.”
After a failed rescue attempt Tuesday night, Jeff made a second attempt Wednesday morning, albeit with help from family friend Scott Baker, who lent his climbing gear to Jeff.
Jeff scaled the tree, placed Tinkerbell in a backpack, and then made his way down. “I’m not afraid of heights, I’m afraid of falling,” said Jeff.
Darlene, meanwhile, watched events unfold.
“He was so high up there that I couldn’t see him through the branches,” said Darlene. “I called on angel Tony to make sure that Jeff and Tinkerbell came down safely.” Tony Dichard, Darlene’s brother, died on Sunday.
This may be Tinkerbell’s first time navigating the wilderness, and certainly her first time stuck in a tree, but the family admits that she is no stranger to climbing. Tinkerbell frequently is climbing as high as she can go in the house. One of Tinkerbell’s favorite climbing spots, according to Darlene, is Jeff’s shoulder.
“Tinkerbell loves Jeff,” said Darlene. “And he loves her too. I knew he was going to rescue that cat as soon as we found her in the tree.”
Jeff said Tinkerbell will stay an indoor cat. “We’ve had enough adventure.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.