PHOENIX, AZ -- Brutis the cat is back home with his owner after going through a bit of a pickle. He had been stuck in a neighbor's tree for nine days, according to the owner.

And the cat's owner says a police officer was partly to blame.

The cat got away from his owner, Michael, last Sunday at a home near 12th Street and Bell Road. When Michael finally tracked Brutis down, he was stuck in the branches, two stories in the air, on his neighbor's property.

The neighbor is a Phoenix police officer.

Michael had tried to get the cat out with no luck. Animal Control told him they don't handle cats due to limited resources.

On Christmas morning, the Humane Society tried to rescue Brutis but said its ladders were not tall enough to reach him.

They also suggested Michael leave food and water at the base of the tree, something Michael said he couldn't do because his police officer neighbor would not let him back on the property.

Michael said the officer told him he was concerned that if someone got hurt while trying to get the cat on his property, he would be liable.

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