Update: Romeo and Adonis were adopted over the weekend of Nov. 23 - 24
REGINA -- The Regina Humane Society has become the home of two male cats who are best friends named Romeo and Adonis, but their journey to the shelter almost tore the inseparable pair apart.
A few weeks ago, animal protection officers received a call about an abandoned cat at a vacant property.
“A member of the public called in an abandoned cat from a property, so it’s somewhat of a standard call for us,” Animal Protection Officer Jason Crossley said. “We will go to a location, usually we are let into the address and we’ll retrieve the animal that’s been abandoned.”
Officers went to the property and found Romeo. The two-year-old cat was put into a kennel and the two officers took him outside, but when they started to load Romeo into the van, he started to cry. Officer Crossley then heard a second cry, but it was coming from a different cat.
Crossley was hearing Adonis’ cry.
"I looked behind me, down the street and I see this little cat in the middle of the road coming towards me,” Crossley said. “They are going ‘meow, meow, meow, meow’ and they are just talking back in forth and the other one is running closer. He came right to our feet and we can’t leave a cat in the road because it’s dangerous and it's not safe to do so. We picked him up and he came along for the ride."
The Regina Humane Society is adopting these two male cats as a bonded pair. The shelter tracked down the original owner who decided to surrender them to the shelter.
"They've clearly showed that they are very bonded not only from the story but they actually became a little bit ill with an upper respiratory infection at the shelter so they moved into foster care together,” said Candace Davis with the Regina Humane Society. “Their foster mom just reiterated to us just how bonded they are and how much they love one another."
The Regina Humane Society said it doesn’t do this often, but they are adopting Romeo and Adonis as a bonded pair, which means they have to be adopted together.
Their foster mom also sponsored the adoption of both cats, which means their adoptions fees are waved. Davis said this friendship between these two cats just shows how important friendship is.
“It just goes to show how important the relationships are in our lives,” Davis said. “I think a lot of people tend to think that animals don’t have these types of feelings but they do build relationships and bonds with not only humans but other animals as well."
The friendship between these two cats is uncommon, because both males still have their reproductive parts intact.
"It's a little bit of an anomaly with these guys,” Davis said. “Generally speaking when there are two intact males they tend to fight they tend to be a little bit territorial."
Crossley said he has never had a service call like this before, and said he won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.
"It was almost like one of those classic romance movies, where you have the two lovers running together and they pan to each one,” he said. “From the vehicle, I looked behind me and I looked this way and the cat’s meowing and he's meowing and they are running together and they were not to be separated.
“It was only right to bring them both in together.”
