Biggie Smalls is fat.
If it weren’t for his crystal blue eyes, you wouldn’t know he was a Siamese, a breed known for its slim, sleek body.
At 12kg, it’s easy to think he should really be three cats, maybe four, as he sits huddled under a cat tower at the Jackson County Animal Shelter in Michigan, the United States, recently.
But he’s just one extra-large cat who has now found a new home.
Biggie, previously named Zander, came to the Jackson shelter this week after living on the streets in Van Buren County. He was adopted in less than 24 hours.
“My son and I saw a photo of him posted on the shelter’s Facebook page and we instantly fell in love,” Darcy Backinger, Biggie’s new cat mum, said. “I didn’t’ think he would still be here when I checked, but when I saw he was, I knew it was just meant to be.”
The shelter, which is seeing a wave of success in pet adoptions recently, sought to assist other Michigan shelters by taking in their unwanted cats and dogs, Jackson County Animal Shelter Director Lydia Sattler said.
Biggie is one of 13 cats and three dogs brought to the shelter from Van Buren County earlier in the week. By mid week, only two cats remained unadopted, Sattler said.
“I think a lot of our success recently has been due to our social media presence and the current coronavirus situation,” Sattler said. “People are spending a lot of time at home right now, so it kind of became the perfect time for people who were considering adoption to follow through.”
Orphaned animals are finding homes faster than ever during this Covid-19 pandemic amid lockdowns.
Biggie was taken in as stray at the Van Buren County Animal Shelter recently where he went unadopted for more than a month before being brought to Jackson, according to shelter intake records.
“I’m really surprised nobody wanted him for so long,” Sattler said. “He’s such a sweet boy and he has the prettiest blue eyes. I’m also amazed he could get so big being a stray.”
Biggie has no obvious health problems, but it is recommended he lose a little weight.
Waving goodbye as he left with his new family – after being loaded into a medium-sized dog crate – the shelter staff was sad to see Biggie go out the door, but is happy he found a loving home so quickly.
The Jackson County Animal Shelter is continuing to take in animals from other county shelters to help spur adoption and find them homes, Sattler said. – Tribune News Service/MLive.com/Nathan Clark
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