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Family adopts the cat Smokey Rose
Courtesy of the Ten Lives Club in Basdell NY
Scrolling through shelter websites and social accounts is a great way to find potential new pets to adopt. But one family in western New York found something even better: their lost cat, Bugaboo, who had been missing from their home for over a month.
The 12-year-old tomcat was in disrepair when he showed up at Maryanne and Mike’s property in Wilson, NY, in June. According to a Facebook post from Ten Lives Club, a nonprofit cat adoption group dedicated to reducing euthanasia of cats from overcrowded and overcrowded animal shelters, the older long-haired cat had heavily matted fur and was dangerously thin when these Good Samaritans stepped in to help help .
The couple drove the cat an hour away to the Ten Lives Club’s main shelter location in Blasdell, NY, where staff and vets could nurse him back to health. The shelter’s veterinary team acted quickly on vaccines and fluids, but say the cat likely would not have survived without Maryanne and Mike’s intervention.
Right place, right time
After Smokey Rose’s health improved and the cat was put up for adoption, the shelter shared his photo during the Empty the Shelters event, a time when adoption fees are coming down thanks to financial support from the BISSELL Pet Foundation. In an incredibly lucky twist, Mason Rounds was scrolling through social media when he spotted the photo of Smokey Rose at the shelter.
The cat looked just like his family’s cat, a fluffy cat named Bugaboo, who disappeared a few weeks ago. Rounds contacted the shelter directly in the photo and wrote, “This is my cat, he’s been missing for a month.” Rounds added some of his own pictures of Bugaboo, taken before his disappearance.
Sure enough, it was a game. Rounds’ earlier pictures showed a fluffy cat with a silky coat of black hair and a distinctive gray patch on its chest and belly. The current photo of the cat at the shelter looked a little worn – but who wouldn’t after walking around outside in warm summer temperatures for a month ?!
The story goes on
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Rounds wrote that he would be at the shelter the next morning to pick up Bugaboo. The adorable photo the shelter shared at the reunion is a pure joy photo with the family cuddling their kittens and smiling with excitement. And although he may have been allowed to run around in the open air before his big adventure went wrong, Bugaboo’s family say he’ll be just a house cat from now on.
“It looks like all the stars have been lined up,” Kimberly LaRussa, PR manager at Ten Lives Club, told Daily Paws. “Just seeing the joy of Smokey Rose’s family when they got their cat back has been so rewarding.”
It takes a village
LaRussa says this touching reunion was the result of many good deeds by many good people, from Maryanne and Mike to shelter staff and volunteers. In some cases, however, also to partners such as the BISSELL Pet Foundation, which offers animal shelters such as the Ten Lives Club financial support so that they can pass on reduced prices to potential adopters at events such as Empty the Shelters. Not only that, LaRussa also says the quarterly events help spread the word about the importance of animal adoption.
“There are [adopters] the opportunity to see that there are so many animals in the area that need a home and that they are more likely to come out for this promotion, ”says LaRussa.
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Since the beginning of this year, BISSELL has helped house 10,693 pets in Forever homes and donated $ 794,580 in direct funding to shelter partners. Over 5,900 of these dogs and cats were adopted during the last event, July 7-11.
LaRussa says Empty the Shelters is helping bring the hard work of the staff and volunteers at the shelter to life. “The staff work hard to help these homeless animals, and it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” she says. “But at the end of the day, when this animal finds its home forever, it will all be worth it.”
