‘Clarence Thomas’ rescued from tree after being stuck for over a week

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) -This Clarence Thomas is not the supreme court justice, but he felt justice Friday afternoon when he was finally rescued from a tree.

Clarence Thomas is a cat who managed to climb about 45 feet up a tree last Thursday. When he realized how high he was, he was afraid to come down. His owner did everything she could to coax him down, but it simply didn’t work.

“I hired a crane company but he [Clarence Thomas] just kept going higher in the tree,” said Patricia Bond, the cat’s owner.

The cat was stuck up there for over a week.(Frances Weller)

A neighbor called the WECT newsroom after learning the fire department no longer responds to cats stuck in trees, hoping to get some publicity and help. A call to Seagate Tree Service was the answer.

David and Jason from the tree service went into action. David harnessed up, donned his climbing spikes and went after Clarence Thomas, who kept climbing higher and higher. Finally, about 70 feet in the air, David was able to reach Clarence Thomas. On the way down, Clarence Thomas fell to the ground but landed on his feet and ran straight to his house.

"He kept running out on every other limb,” David said, “But we finally got him and he’s safe. That’s the main thing.”

Jason, his co-worker, kept control of the ropes linked to the harness. He said he never doubted David’s ability to rescue the cat.

"I know David and he's pretty much the gutsiest climber I've ever seen and the best one I've ever met so and I knew he was going to give it a good shot and he went out on that very thin limb and it came dangling down,” Jason said. “The cat jumped down a couple limbs. He's safe back here on the back porch here in the shade. It's a good day."

Clarence Thomas’ owner said she was going to take him to the vet to have him checked out for dehydration, but overall, he seemed to survive a harrowing experience