THOMASTON — Sid the cat climbed up a tree in a Thomaston backyard April 5. Two and a half days later, by the graces of social media and a helpful community, Sid came down from that tree.

Whether driven by angst, cabin fever or just opportunity, Sid, a 3-year-old male house cat, escaped the confines of home and met up with what must have been a very interesting tree. Sid climbed high, and when someone ventured to the roof of the nearby house, Sid climbed even higher. With branches thinning, a backwards retreat became impossible.

All day Sunday, Sid became acquainted with that branch. Monday came and went. Then finally, about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Theresa Gargan, shelter manager of the Thomaston branch of Pope Memorial Humane Society, received a call for help from Sid’s human, Nickole Gamage.

A bucket truck was going to be needed for this rescue operation, something the fire department doesn’t have.

Gargan posted an urgent Facebook message, reaching out to the community for help. Two hours later, Jody Dinsmore saw the post and in turn reached out to Brandon Allen, who works for the town of Thomaston. Allen then gave Tim Hoppe a call. Hoppe works for the police department, but also does tree work on the side.

Before Hoppe’s truck could be used by Allen, who couldn’t get to the property until his shift ended at 3 p.m., someone else had to assess the situation. Sid hadn’t picked a tree easily accessible by large trucks.

“There were two big trees [in front of the house], so it wasn’t like you could just pull in and go up in the bucket,” Gargan said.

To start off, tree limbs had to be lopped. And the nearer Allen got to the cat, the higher the emotions ran by the witnesses on the ground.

“I’m the one doing the camera, and I usually don’t say a word. I didn’t even know I had until I played it back afterward. I’m going ‘Come on Sid,” Gargan said. “The girls got on the roof just in case he jumped. He reached out and grabbed him, and it was like your heart was in your throat.”

Watch the video of the rescue on the shelter's Facebook page.

According to Gargan, Sid was on a very thin limb.

“How he stayed there I have no idea.”

As Allen was going up, lopping branches, Sid’s branch was moving. But Allen was still able to reach out and grab Sid just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Sid was calm when he was put into his human’s arms.

“Probably from shock,” said Gargan.

Sid is not the only animal who has benefited from social media and community support. Splash, another shelter cat, received a postcard from his soon-to-be human, who winters in Florida and saw the cat’s picture on the Internet. The adopters recently called from South Carolina to say they’re on their way.

Zeppelin, one of the emaciated dogs from the hoarding situation in January, still has some skin problems, but has a family waiting for him when he’s medically cleared. All of the other emaciated dogs have been adopted.

Izzy, the emaciated greyhound, is also doing well. Gargan couldn’t say much about Izzy’s former owner, other than the owner has been fined and will serve jail time.

See related story:

• A year in the life of an animal shelter: Thomaston’s Pope Humane Society cares for emaciated dogs, ice cats