by Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc.
Did you know, within one week of the grand opening, Tails Up Cat Café & Creative Lounge celebrated their first cat adoption? And, not surprisingly, it was Tony the Tiger! Tony’s story started with us two years ago, when he wandered onto a new property owner’s porch. The homeowner believes very strongly in TNR (trap-neuter-return) and so she set her sights on getting Tony. Tony happens to be a foodie, and therefore, turned out to be not hard to trap. He was soon on his way to The Animal Rights Alliance spay/neuter clinic to lose his jewels and be vaccinated. During this process it became obvious that Tony was not a feral cat after all. Besides being extremely handsome, he was super friendly. And so, Tony came into shelter in the hopes of getting adopted.
While in residence, his full personality emerged, meaning we discovered he is not a cat’s cat, but a human’s companion all the way. Tony tried to so hard to get potential adopters to notice him which sometimes became a bit too frisky. We had to move him from room to room due to cat personality conflicts that would arise. Being a confident cat, moving here and there never really fazed him. Wanting to give him a better opportunity to be noticed, he was an easy choice candidate for the Tails Up Cat Café as one of the initial twelve shelter cats.
The day of the move Tony walked into an open carrier on his own, making sure he was going! Upon arrival he was the first out of the carrier and immediately began his exploration of his new digs ending belly up on the couch. Despite this new spacious, comfortable and peaceful environment with several cat trees, litter boxes, food and water dishes, shelves, two couches and comfy chairs Tony still sometimes managed to bully the other cats. Oddly enough though, on opening day, he actually hid under the couch from the children trying to entice him with toys. We surmise that he prefers adult company. And he finally found it in a young couple who each grew up around cats and know how to read their personalities. Tony won them over big time! Their application was processed making way for his adoption. Curated by Rachael, a local, eclectic business of apparel and jewelry sponsored the first adoption at Tails Up Cat Café & Creative Lounge, and paid Tony’s adoption fee. His new roommates came to the shelter to complete the adoption paperwork and with a new carrier in hand, left to go pick up Tony.
Need I even say that Tony walked right into their carrier after having his picture taken with them holding him. He was more than ready to start a new life with pampering roomies as their one and only. Now we know why it took two years for Tony to be adopted. It’s all about pet adoption being the right match for the people and especially for the pet. Happy life, Tony!
Our Pet of the Week are:
Adoption applications are available at wvhumane. org or call 845-986-2473 for more information.
