Lynsi's Local Beat: Paws for Alarm
By Lynsi Perry
What started as a typical Friday on Main Street quickly turned into a scene involving an emergency vehicle from the Albany Volunteer Fire Department and several concerned citizens gathered around a large pecan tree behind the CenterWell Home Health office building, located at the intersection of Main and S. 1st Street. The department was dispatched at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Friday for a kitten rescue from the said tree.
Reports from neighborhood kids indicated that the kitten had been stuck in the tree for five days, and its meowing had grown more distressed, making the call for help necessary. Yours truly, who had been kept up for five nights by the persistent meowing, felt obligated to get involved.
Within minutes of the call, Fire Captain Casey Kimbrough and local volunteer Kraymer Harbold arrived on Engine #2, which is typically reserved for responding to structure fires and car accidents. Fire Chief Joel Viertel explained that Engine #2 is ideal for accessing rooftops and rescuing kittens.
Harbold, who works full-time with the Parker County Fire Department and has been a volunteer in Albany for two years, and Kimbrough, who has served with the AVFD for nine years, both said this was their first cat rescue. However, the two were natural rescuers. Harbold quickly directed Grayson Tidwell, a concerned neighbor, to grab his pool net from the yard and a sheet to catch the kitten when it fell.
Tidwell’s sister, Poppy, along with her two friends, Elizabeth and Mae Musselman, held the sheet below the tree while running around it, trying to figure out where the cat would land, considering the two-story height. Belynda Tidwell, mom of Grayson and Poppy, and neighbor Laci Burns nervously watched as Harbold climbed to the top of Engine #2, using the extended pool net to push the kitten toward the edge of the branch. Bystanders from CenterWell peeked out of their back door, while concerned passersby stopped to check that the commotion wasn’t something more serious.
In the end, the kitten fell from the tree, landing in the sheet but bouncing out and running for its life. The kids and moms scrambled to catch it, but to no avail. Harbold was confident the cat was physically okay, though it seemed to have suffered some emotional trauma and likely wouldn’t return. Later that Friday night, the kitten was heard again in the wee hours of the morning, though it had moved to a more obscure location.
The kids were all disappointed they couldn’t catch the kitten, as they had big plans for the orange tabby. His name was going to be Billy, and he was meant to be bred with Elizabeth Musselman’s new cat, Lilly. However, as of the latest update, Lilly’s name will likely change if there is no Billy.
Viertel explained that while the department is trained for rescues that may include kittens, this type of call is more of a small-town service. Harbold and Kimbrough went above and beyond, even staying an additional 30 minutes to search for the kitten in nearby trees.
To keep the wildcat grounded, wet food and a cat trap have been set out, in hopes that the kitten might become the Tidwells’ new pet. However, Belynda Tidwell clarified that they are not currently in need of a new four-legged friend.
