STODDARD — When the Stoddard Fire Department pulled into Debbie Kingsbury’s house Tuesday morning, they braced themselves for a rescue. There wasn’t a fire, or a gas leak, but there was Moxie: a streaky gray, mixed Abyssinian cat. She was stuck in a tree.
The crew backed up its truck, edged to the tree, and extended the ladder up to the branches. Then they did what firefighters have been doing for ages: they reached out, grabbed the cat, and walked her down to Earth.
Moments later, Moxie was safe, back in her owner’s relieved arms.
“It was wonderful,” Kingsbury later said. “I was thrilled.”
Kingsbury had first noticed the cat missing the night before, when she didn’t come in on her own. Her dog Jamie, a lab and German shepherd mix, had even left to look himself, at one point barking at the tree, she recalled.
She became more worried at midnight, when she heard meows in the backyard but saw no sign of Moxie.
By 5:30 Tuesday morning, after a fitful night of sleep, she’d become anxious. That’s when she walked out and found Moxie, 20 to 25 feet up, wrapped around a tree branch in the yard.
Kingsbury was partially relieved, but then concerned: a storm was predicted for later in the day, and Moxie was too high to reach. She called Margo Santoro, Stoddard animal control officer and town selectman, who tipped off the fire department.
At 9:02 a.m., they arrived, in force: the captain, two firefighters, and Fire Chief Stephen McGerty.
“One of us went up, got the cat, didn’t get scratched, got the cat in the house; everyone was happy,” McGerty said.
Santoro said the rescue was a joyful moment for everyone.
“It was just amazing,” she said. “I was so relieved and (Kingsbury) was so relieved.”
With the truck, the tree and the stranded feline, the firefighters appeared to paint a classic picture, straight from the pages of a children’s book.
But according to Santoro and McGerty, animal rescues are relatively rare. They estimated the department responds to an animal rescue-related call about every other year.
Reacting to the events herself, Kingsbury could hardly contain her excitement.
“My daughter-in-law just moved here two weeks ago, and she said (on Tuesday): ‘It just melts my heart to see this kind of reaction,' ” Kingsbury said. “And I said: ‘That’s what a small town does for you.’ ”
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