We've all heard of working dogs - but what about working cats? Wellington's Moa Point Dog Shelter has a feline helper in the form of chief temperament tester Colin Feral, a former stray who is now living large.
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Wellington City Council animal control officer Steph Simon told Morning Report the shelter had been on the lookout for a new shelter cat when Colin was caught from a feral cat colony as a kitten.
They had been after a ginger and he fit the bill, so they kept him on and soon put him to work testing out how the various dogs up for adoption react to cats.
"When we're adopting out dogs, people always want to know if the dog is going to be good with cats, and we can test those dogs on Colin safely."
Colin did not really react to the dogs, meaning the staff could simply sit him on a swivel chair and then bring a dog in to see their reaction.
"Usually it's quite good, weirdly a lot of dogs are quite good with cats, but we do get the ones that, you know, they're going to be the chasers."
We heard all about Colin the shelter cat this morning, who's been put to work testing the temperaments of dogs at Wellington's Moa Point shelter.
— Morning Report (@NZMorningReport) June 1, 2022
Here's a clip of him in action... or rather inaction. pic.twitter.com/YODC7ohL3h
Simon said Colin had a bit of an ego and seemed to look down on dogs, but there were a couple of dogs that belonged to shelter employees he would play with.
Other cats were out of the question though.
Simon brought Colin home one night and while the pair were outside, he spotted the neighbour's cat and charged it.
She thought he may have a bit of an identity crisis.
"When you grew up with dogs, I think you think you're a dog."
