AJ's owner Lisa Quin along with rescuers Stephen Murgo, Carlos Medeiros and Derick Case.

BRISTOL - The plight of AJ, the two-year-old orange tabby, came to a happy ending late Thursday morning when he was rescued from a tree on Peck Avenue. Bristol resident Carlos Medeiros, owner of American Tree Works, responded to calls for help from AJ's owner and other neighbors.

It took little convincing from Peck Ave neighbor Stephen Murgo, who was working with the Bristol tree service company on a near by job. Mr Medeiros along with Derick Case, also of Bristol, made quick work of the rescue, within minutes of their arrival on Peck Ave. Mr Medeiros had gotten to within a few feet of AJ, some 40 feet up, in one of his tree service trucks. It wasn't long before AJ was coaxed down to safety.

Onlookers and worried neighbors who'd gathered to watch the rescue breathed a collective sigh of relief when AJ made it down.

It had been a tough four days. AJ was first noticed missing Monday, and it didn't take long for Peck Avenue residents to notice him stuck at the top of the tree. The tree was too tall for residents to climb, and all efforts to coax the scared animal from its perch proved unsuccessful. Residents even called the Bristol Fire Department to ask for help with the town's ladder truck. But after a visit to the site Tuesday afternoon, Bristol Fire Chief Robert Martin ruled that the tree's location wasn't conducive to using the department's ladder truck.

"I have to leave the situation as is," he wrote in an e-mail to the Bristol Phoenix Thursday morning.

Location didn't prove a stumbling block to Mr. Medeiros, who backed his truck up directly underneath the tree and had his bucket extended in minutes. After AJ was back on solid ground, he turned down a financial reward from the owners, saying he was happy to help save the animal.