ON FIRST DAY OF WORK, MAN OUT ON A LIMB

Luke Nievar found himself literally out on a limb Monday.

On his first day on the job at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri animal shelter, the 22-year-old Cape Girardeau man ended up climbing up a tree to rescue a cat.

By mid-afternoon, the female, long-hair cat was resting comfortably at the shelter, seemingly no worse for the ordeal.

Nievar said he could never have anticipated that his new job would involve such a rescue.

Nancy Richards, shelter manager, said she, Nievar and another shelter employee rescued the cat from a tall oak tree in the backyard of a residence at 1506 Scott Street.

The tree, she said, was in the middle of the backyard. "There was no way to get to it from the roof or anything to climb on," she said.

Richards said the humane society came to the rescue after no one else would.

The property owner first called the shelter on Saturday. Richards said the woman was referred to the city's animal control unit.

Richards said an animal control officer apparently visited the scene, but left unable to coax the animal down.

Monday morning, the shelter received several more calls about the sedentary feline, which was reported to have been sitting in the tree for four days.

"We told them to call the fire department to see if they could send a truck to get the cat out," said Richards.

But fire officials declined, pointing out that the department is not in the business of rescuing animals.

It wasn't a normal activity for the humane society, either. "We don't really do animal control," said Richards.

But Monday afternoon, they did just that.

"We left about 1:45 p.m. and got back at 2:30 p.m.," she said.

Nievar said the cat was perched about 25 feet up in the oak tree. He speculated that the cat, having climbed up the tree, found the descent too difficult.

Nievar said he ascended an 18-foot-high ladder and then had to pull himself up on a limb and climb the tree to reach the cat.

"I could kind of reach around the tree and touch her with the back of my hand," he said.

The cat initially climbed higher up the tree but returned to her original spot, enticed by fresh tuna supplied by the property owner.

Once the noose was around her neck, Nievar handed the cat to Richards, who was standing on the ladder.

"When we got it down, it was still chewing up a piece of tuna," said Richards.

"It was really hungry," said Nievar.

The cat seemed happy to be back on solid ground. "It was purring and just happy," he said.