A Coventry family's cat is back home after an amazing rescue that was nothing short of a miracle all thanks to the continued kindness of some residents.
Almost two weeks ago, brothers Tyler and Kaeleb Arnold had been at their home along Log Bridge Road in western Coventry.
“I came out of the house to take out my dog and I noticed the cat in the tree,” said Tyler. “I didn’t know it was a cat at the time, my dog didn’t even realize it.”
After looking and getting a little closer to the tree both Tyler and Kaeleb ran to their parents for help.
“We didn’t know how it got there,” said Tyler. “It was just up there. It didn’t have any food, no water.”
Initially, the cat was about 20 feet from the ground in the tree but as they got closer, it began to climb higher.
“It was like 50 feet in the air,” said Kaeleb. “After it got like 50 feet it was swinging back and forth.”
Bonnie Arnold, the boy’s mom, began making phone calls to see if someone could help.
“I’m really surprised the cat did not fall out of the tree. It was that gusty, cold, before this beautiful weather,” said Bonnie.
The ladder their dad had attempted to use didn’t work. Instead, the cat climbed even higher.
“I told the boys the cat would come down when it wanted to but then after a day or so it didn’t,” she said. “It was the weekend, Sunday, so I called as many people as I could, but it was the weekend, so everyone was closed. Monday and Tuesday, I called everybody I knew and Wednesday, I was like well that’s it there’s nothing else I can do. Animal control didn’t have certified climbers, the fire department said getting their trucks out here, we live rurally, they were afraid the trucks would sink into the ground it was a liability. State, city people, public help companies, regulatory agencies. Other tree companies. Everyone is limited at what their abilities are.”
That didn’t sit well with her children who were persistent.
“Every time we went over to the cat it would meow and look at us,” said Kaeleb. ”It was like asking for help,” added Tyler. “Every minute we would say to our mom, ‘Did you call someone? Did you call someone? Because we were nervous.”
For five days the cat stayed up in the tree.
“They were begging me to find someone to take the cat out of the tree,” said Bonnie. Every day. Multiple times a day. Finally, my brother got in contact with Bob.”
Three years ago, Coventry resident Bob Fratantuono started his own business. American Tree Service Inc.
“Other than saving cats, we do a lot of residential tree trimming and tree removal and we take down hazardous trees that potentially threaten people’s homes,” said Fratantuono. “We got a phone call that there was a cat that had been stuck in a tree for several days and they weren’t able to get any help from anybody.”
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Fratantuono told the Arnold’s he would come by and check it out.
“I wanted to help. I said, ‘I’m going to be here first thing in the morning and we’re going to do what we can to help you,”’ said Fratantuono.
Fratantuono, alongside two of his employees, Jeremy Pomfret and Don Presley showed up for service.
“I was in the bucket. I had both my guys on the ground looking at what the cat was doing in the tree and the cat was reacting as I came closer to it. They were giving me a perspective on the best spot to go into the tree,” said Fratantuono. “It looked really scared. It was definitely frightened. I moved as slowly as I could to it and at the last second it started coming toward me a little bit. That's when I reached out and grabbed it.”
Initially, the Arnold’s and the tree crew thought the cat might be feral but once it was saved, they realized it was someone’s pet.
Almost a mile away, at a home on Victory Highway, Destiny Charette had been searching everywhere for the cat her dad gave to her two years ago.
“His name is Poky Blue,” she said. “He gets out of the house a lot. He does not want to be an indoor cat, but he never runs away. He always comes inside at night but that day he didn’t.”
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After two days of not seeing her cat, Charette’s mom posted in a local Facebook group and called around to local shelters.
“You know how you’re a parent and how you feel about kids? That’s how I feel about my cat,” said Charette. “When he went missing, I was stressing out I was like, ‘Oh my god, what could’ve happened.”’
Once the cat was rescued from the tree, Coventry’s animal control agreed to take it.
Charette found out Poky Blue had been in their care and was reunited with him six days after it had gone missing.
“When I saw them, I was like thank you so much I wanted to give them a big hug. I was so happy,” she said.
“A lot of people would’ve been like not my cat, not my problem,” said Charette’s mom. “He’s unharmed, he wasn’t hurt or dehydrated or anything like that. Everyone went above and beyond for this cat. I can’t believe somebody so kind would do that at all. I mean I would but there’s not many of us nice people out there. Just a huge thank you to the family that called. They didn’t give up, we appreciate it.”
“We are relieved the cat is ok and it’s with its owners,” said Tyler and Kaeleb.
Poky Blue now wears a tracking tag and a harness.
His family plans to keep an eye on him.
“I’m glad we were able to get to the cat safely,” said Fratantuono. “We love animals. I grew up on a farm. They’re my neighbors, I’m only 5-10 minutes away. It’s just good to help the community. They needed help.”