Ben Roberts does it for the kids, not the cats.
Yes, he’s rescued nearly 30 felines from the tippy tops of trees. He’s careful when he scoops them into a bag before descending to safety.
But it’s reuniting children with their beloved pets and seeing their wide eyes and beaming smiles that make his side gig as a cat rescuer worth the climb.
“I’m not a cat lover myself,” said the 31-year-old Puyallup man. “I’m a cat liker – when I have to go get one.”
Roberts rescued his first cat five years ago and boasts a 100 percent success rate – excluding an African grey parrot that flitted from tree to tree and repeatedly eluded capture.
His most recent rescue came at nightfall Jan. 10. Puff Puff, a black cat belonging to 8-year-old Breslen Taylor, was going on his seventh night in a tree.
Michelle Taylor, concerned about an expected storm and tormented by the cat’s meowing, asked Roberts for help.
With Breslen and her family anxiously watching from the deck, Roberts slipped on a harness and lanyards and shimmied up the 115-foot Douglas fir.
Read the complete story at thenewstribune.com