Mind the Cat: Commuting cat boards tube to Battersea
Stunned morning commuters in London, UK had to vie for a seat on the Victoria Line with an unusually furry passenger making its way to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
A voyaging ginger cat – named Oyster by the London animal charity’s staff – managed to grab a seat on the train carriage at Seven Sisters station during the hustle and bustle of rush hour on Friday 8 November.
Luckily, a volunteer from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home boarded the same carriage as the male moggy and managed to coax the independent feline into an empty cat carrier she had with her.
Paige Jokovic, a cattery support volunteer at the London rescue centre, said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Oyster sitting on a seat on the tube, and I thought at first he was a teddy bear. Everyone around him was just staring like they’d never seen a cat before. Thankfully, I had a cat carrier with me as I had to pick my own cat up from the vets in the evening. We both took the tube to Vauxhall and I’m very pleased I was there to help him get off the tube, minding the gap, and escort him to Battersea.”
Oyster’s arrival coincides with the animal charity’s Cat Takeover Campaign which aims to raise awareness that Battersea rehomes cats as well as dogs. Battersea, which has been rehoming cats for 130 years, has around 150 cats across its three centres looking for new homes. To increase the capital’s pussycat presence, the charity is holding late night Purrsdays on the last Thursday of every month where visitors can rehome the charity’s abandoned moggies until 8.00pm.
Lindsey Quinlan, Battersea’s Head of Cattery, said: “Oyster is very lucky to have been found on the tube by Paige who was able to bring him to Battersea. We take in cats which have been found in appalling conditions in unusual places including bins and boxes, but Oyster is a healthy, happy boy who appears to have been simply making his way to central London.
Oyster doesn’t have a microchip, so if nobody comes forward to collect him, he will be rehomed and hopefully not try to take a trip on the tube by himself again.”
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