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Vancouver Island crane operator takes time out to rescue cat stuck in a tree

Kyle Hobbs said the rescue of cat stuck for more than 24 hours was done in just over 30 minutes

Superheroes have all kinds of powers. Cat rescuer Kyle Hobbs’ power was having a crane nearby.

Hobbs, a Colwood resident who owns Coastal Tree Works and Coastal Crane Works, was working a few houses down when he got a call from a neighbour asking if he could help get a cat down from their tree. The feline had been stuck for more than 24 hours.

Hobbs didn’t have any climbing gear handy, but he did have his crane nearby. He drove it over, set it up and suspended a co-worker from it, maneuvering them towards the cat.

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“I’ve done lots of cats rescues where you spend a couple of hours bouncing around the tree trying to find the dang cat,” he said. “But this time, in a matter of a minute and a half, the cat was just so tired of being up there it leaped right onto his lap.”

Including crane set up, the whole rescue took around 30 minutes, Hobbs said, adding the cat’s owner was ecstatic when the cat made it down safely.

Focused on bringing cat and co-worker to safety, Hobbs didn’t notice a crowd had gathered behind him.

Several residents grabbed photos of the action.

“When you go to this length to rescue a cat, you’re a really good person,” Lindsay Wilson wrote in a post to Facebook. “Kyle Hobbs, you’re a true hero.”


@moreton_bailey
bailey.moreton@goldstreamgazette.com

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