LEOMINSTER, MASS. (WHDH) - A man trying to retrieve a treed cat in Leominster wound up in need of rescue himself Monday, with firefighters ultimately pulling both him and the cat free.

Ian Patella said his cat went up a tree in their yard on Hanover Street Sunday and would not come down.

“We waited for him to come down,” said Jill Patella, Ian’s mother. “Nothing was happening, so our contractor came this morning and said ‘I’m going to get him out.'”

Contractor James Brennan grabbed his ladder and went into the tree, but as he climbed higher, so did the cat.

And then Brennan couldn’t climb any further.

“I got up 60 feet or so … and my belt got caught up in the tree,” Brennan said. “I was kind of hung up in the tree.”

Fire and rescue crews filled the neighborhood as they got Brennan down.

“Well, we’ve seen it before, people up in the trees, but it’s a rare call for us,” said Deputy Chief Scott Cordio. “It’s easy to go up, coming down is not as easy.”

Brennan said he’s a little embarrassed but knows how important pets can be and just wanted to help.

“Seeing Mrs. Patella, she was highly upset … so I just did what I had to do,” he said.

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