The World’s Most Beautiful Job? Cuddling Kittens! | Dogalize
What many pet lovers have been dreaming about for so long, has now turned into reality, at least for those who live in the U.K. The Westgate Ark, cat shelter in Newcastle, wants people to come in and play with the kittens. They put on their website a call for volunteers in charge of cuddling and playing with feline friends!
The Westgate Ark centre has been set up to help rehome rescued cats and kittens, many of which are feral or semi-feral.
Paul Black, 55, who set the centre, told The Independent: “We rescue a lot of pregnant cats and semi-feral kittens and they all need handling so that they’re nice and used to people, which makes them much more suitable for homes.”
Kittens have a period between three and seven weeks when they need to be handled, which is called “socialisation,” and is crucial to a cat’s development. It is the period when they get used to people, other animals and everyday sights and sounds.
“If you miss that window of opportunity and they’re not exposed to people extensively by that age then they become feral or semi-feral, and the older they become the harder it is to domesticate them,” Mr Black said.
This is the reason why the shelter has put out the call for “cat cuddlers” on its site. “We have some wonderful volunteers, but we don’t have enough,” Mr Black said, adding that many of his volunteers work full time and can only help out at certain times of the day.
Mr Black is hoping to expand the clinic into a non-profit neutering clinic for cats and dogs in the future, but that until the centre has enough money to fund the operation, it will focus on rehoming cats.
If you’re curious about any news concerning dogs and other animals’ lifestyles, visit www.dogalize.com!
Source: independent