We don't get cats out of trees anymore..

As I mentioned earlier in my comprehensive bio blog, I'm a CAREER fire fighter. Actually, unless I really screw something up I should be a captain in a few weeks. (Woo hoo!!! no more quarterly exams!) Anyway, I got a call from Brian, a friend of mine and fellow musician. His aunt apparently had a new kitty which got spooked by a dog and planted herself 30 feet up an oak tree. I told him to call me if she was still in the tree this morning and I would get her out. It sort of made me sad to tell him the fire department doesn't rescue cats anymore.. I mean.. isn't that what firefighters DO? Slide down the pole, load up the dalmation, jump on the back of the truck and get the cat out of the tree...
I don't know why we've stopped doing that but I've heard some of the older firemen say: "you ever seen a cat skeleton hanging from a tree?"
Makes sense to me but I just thought getting some old lady's (or some child's) cat out of a tree is just a show of compassion towards the people who pay our salaries.
But I can't be angry about it because I'm sure lots of firemen have been seriously injured falling out of trees after being mauled nearly to death by a psychotic feline.
I do know that due to the huge amounts of firemen injuries resulting from losing their grips on the way to the fire scene is the reason we don't hold on to the back of the trucks anymore..

And dalmations are no longer needed because they were just there to keep the horses calm while they spent their lives in the fire stations.. (It's true)

But I can only speculate about the cat incident..

You know how there's always final straw that breaks the camels back? Well, I wonder who the straw was that ended the "cat in the tree" rescues.. Cause you know SOMEBODY at the Greenville Fire Department got cat scratch fever or broke an arm or something rescuing a cat..

And what kind of cat was it? Was it a siamese? Persian? Russian Blue? Or one of those freaky hairless cats that feel like a hot damp towel when they rub against your skin? (I have some friends who had one of those.... I know).

I'm going to ask my Chief tomorrow why we don't rescue cats anymore... I'll let you know why later..

Oh yeah... I'll let you know who the straw is/was too..

ONE more thing... Brian never called so I guess the cats out of the tree.. let ya know how that turned out too..