Luke rescues ragdoll cat

Local woman, Karen Stoll spent her Tuesday afternoon in an unexpected way - desperately trying to orchestrate the rescue of a ragdoll cat.
On Monday night Mrs Stoll was at her home in Warragul's north when she noticed what looked like an ibis in a large blackwood tree on her property. The black and white shape of the creature stuck out amongst the leaves and was about 10 metres up.
It was not until midday the next day when she heard a 'meow' coming from the tree that she released it was a ragdoll cat, perched up in the tree with no way of coming down.
Mrs Stoll felt it was her responsibility to organise the cat's rescue, so she began making calls.
Between 1pm and 3pm Mrs Stoll said she called the Baw Baw Shire, RSPCA Victoria, a local veterinary clinic, the State Emergency Services and the Country Fire Authority. She was even told to ring 000 by emergency services personnel.
"They said they did not have the resources to help," she told The Gazette.
"No one knew who to refer it to... but it was inhumane not to try and help it."
Mrs Stoll and a neighbour even spent time knocking on doors trying to locate the cat's owner, but unfortunately, that tactic yielded no results.
After some time, Mrs Stoll contacted Gippy Tree Services and left a message.
To her relief, Gippy Tree Service's director Luke Sheppard returned her call and told her he would be on the scene in 15 minutes.
This was not the first time Mr Sheppard had been called to rescue a lost pet or belonging. However, it was his first time rescuing at cat.
"I have got out pet birds before that have escaped from their cage and flown to the closest tree, and drones - we've got a fair few drones out of trees that have got stuck," he said.
After assessing the situation, Mr Sheppard strapped himself to a rope and harness and scaled the tree. Once he had almost reached the cat he prepared to catch it in a carrier that was hoisted up to him by the people below.
"I climbed up there, and as I was climbing up to the cat it kept climbing up higher... then they sent up a cat carrier and I managed to get the cat in the carrier and then lowered it back down," he said.
"The cat was pretty scared and exhausted I think
"When I opened up the cat carrier and put it in front of it it was more than happy to climb in... I think it wanted to go home."
Mr Sheppard said it was clear when he got up the tree that this was not a stray cat, it was definitely a house cat that had not spent much time scaling trees.
When Mr Sheppard finally ushered the cat into the carrier he estimates he was about 15 metre up the tree.
At 5pm the cat, exhausted and petrified was taken to the vet so it could be reunited with its owners.
Mrs Stoll was later notified by the veterinary clinic that the cat was microchipped and had been picked up by its owners.