Humane society finds job for unfriendly cats | FOX 5 News

Not every feline is suitable for indoor living. So, what do you do when you come across a kitty who doesn't like snuggling? The Arizona Humane Society says you can put them to work.

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[catzenhouse]

My Humane Society used to call them barn cats but now they have switched to business cats.

[Darci]

My cats would die of shock and indiginity if they were told they had a "job" and were going to be outside😂😂😂😂

[bethriley]

I am so happy to see someone who has a job they are qualified for and love to do.

[DagNeb_It]

I got a working car. In 4 months of being outside, she has brought me 7 rats and my neighbors have told me she is clean up their yards too. It is great 👍 plus she is friendly

[sharieblossom]

I hope they make sure the people that take them actually have adequate shelters for them as working cats as well as take care of them properly.

[joyrisher]

We call them Barn Cats; however, they have to be fed by the owners because a well-fed cat is a much better mouser.

[heathermetz]

Hooray for a Humane Society giving working cats another life.

[saragalea]

I love how they’re presenting this idea like its brand new 😅

[BrightElk]

My husband was homeless when he was a teenager and they had something similar where the shelter bought “mean” cats to control the rodent population. Well one of those mean cats loved my husband and he fell in love with that cat. The staff was shocked because It never let anyone but my husband touch him. It was therapeutic during such a tough time. I wish he could have adopted it but he was just trying to get a roof back over his head and was barely managing at that time.

[zurc_bot]

Unfriendly? Nah. Trust must be earned.

[AdverbsAndNouns]

I just adopted a kitten. My first 🥇 cat. I was a dog owner all my life .. and I'm so happy I switched 🎉

[marinacosta]

Nice. My cats are free loading little couch potatoes.

[althepal]

My cat should apply lol. But I can never give her up, unfriendly and all.

[bloodymary]

Why did I think the cat was going to be a DMV attendant? 😂

[audraarndt]

Barn cats are a popular thing in many areas like Michigan. They do more than earn their keep by keeping critters away. Ive seen it firsthand.

And if u have a gross neighbor whose hoard attracts rats, well the cats handle that too.

[horseygurl]

Great story! I live in Georgia in the woods on 28 acres, with creek and marsh on property, but thanks to my small colony of cats, I rarely see snakes, mice, and rats. I like snakes, but don't want them around my house. The last snake I saw was two years ago, and it was mangled and dead in the driveway, victim of a cat. Kudos to the Arizona Humane Society for this worthwhile program helping cats.

[stephaniejoy]

What an awesome recognition of respecting the personality of each cat, assessing their needs, and then finding appropriate homes...love it! I adopted a brother/sister at 4 months, and living on a quiet cul-de-sac with a forested swamp in my backyard I kept them as outdoor kitties, living in my enclosed porch (with a doggy door). When we moved and they were now 6 years old, we introduced them to the indoors of our new home...they acted like they always lived inside! Took to the litter box day one and was very respectful of our furniture. They never attempted to jump on the counters or do anything other than lounge. Allowing them access to the outdoors at our new place still gave them their autonomy, and they basically stayed on our property, lounging now on our open porch Adirondack chairs, but equally spending most of their days inside (they came in at night and slept with us). Every morning they'd wait for me to open the door to let them out, scope out the property, do their business and then came back in (they learned to open the porch screen door by themselves lol). They lived wonderful lives intuitively staying safe. He lived till he was 15...she lived till 17 (missing him dearly). The biggest discovery of not having them scratch the furniture was recognizing that they loved scratching the coir rug I had on the patio when they lived outside...I brought that rug in and put it by the couch, then purchased a few more and put them by the front and back door, as well as one by our bed. Every time they would come inside they'd run to the rug and scratch it...the hard bristles called to them like catnip lol! So don't assume those outdoor kitties don't also want to be inside...they just want the autonomy to make the decision themselves.

[josh]

I’ve dealt with this type of program before! My parents had a farm and it was the type where mice and rodents could do serious damage. So they got a few outdoor working cats and they knew right away what to do. They were all hunters and they loved doing it. There was a shed that they would use for indoor shelter when needed and they would go to the local farming shop and buy them a HUGE box of plain cat food and feed them every night to keep them on the property. And for water, they were on well water and just simply run a hose in a bucket all the time.

[after_twelve_]

We have neighborhood cats in my area that i and the other neighbor feeds. They’re all fixed with their ear tip clipped. We used to have bad mice/rats problem and they would crawling on the fence at night and now I haven’t seen one in years 🙌🙌

[SilverScaleMA]

Where I lived in NW Arkansas over 10 years ago had a feral cat program that most of the shelters participated in. Mainly farms would adopt feral cats after they were spayed/neutered with the understanding that they kept the program updated on how many cats they had and made sure they stayed up to date on vaccinations, and generally took care of the cats they adopted. It worked really well and actually increased the populations of native wildlife that had before been regularly poisoned by baits, or rodents that had consumed the bait, used by farmers (not to mention livestock that would occasionally accidentally get to it) while also funding the shelters to help with the spay/neuter programs to lower the populations of stray cats in the area.