'Weird Cat' Held By Douglas County Animal Shelter, Owner Sought

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — Douglas County’s animal shelter has cared for all sorts of critters over the years: canines, felines, some rabbits and even the occasional bird.

On Sunday, the shelter retrieved its first-ever “weird cat.”

“If anyone is missing a weird looking cat, Animal Control brought it in last night,” Douglas County Animal Services posted Monday to its Facebook page. “Interested adopters must have *weird cat experience*”

The post includes a video showing a hand gently tapping against a plastic enclosure with a cat maze behind it. Seconds later, the “weird cat” pops out of the maze to look around.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, the “weird cat” is a ferret, and the post is tongue in cheek.

Cynthia Williams, shelter manager for Douglas County Animal Services, told Patch that a “concerned citizen” had trapped the ferret in an Amazon box for fear that it “was trying to get into her home.” An animal control officer then retrieved the box and brought the ferret to the shelter.

“In the three years I’ve been working at the shelter, we have not received any ferrets,” Williams told Patch via email. That meant the shelter didn’t have any cages that could hold a ferret. Instead, officers placed it in the shelter’s “Kitten Free Roam Room” — “which is where the ‘weird cat’ idea came from,” Williams said.

If the previous owner doesn’t call the shelter by Friday, the "weird cat" will be up for adoption. In the meantime, the Facebook post has generated so much interest that Williams predicted “we shouldn’t have a problem re-homing to someone with ‘weird-cat’ experience!”

If this ferret belongs to you, call Douglas County Animal Services at 770-942-5961.