Rescued Hours Before Death Row, This Cat Can't Stop Thanking His Savior

Maybe you’re on the hunt for a fluffy BFF, but you don’t know where to start. Perhaps you’re planning on purchasing a pet with pedigree, but you’re stuck on the whole “adopt, don’t shop” thing.

Whatever the case might be, we suggest dropping by your local animal shelter before heading over to the pet store. Why, you ask? Where do we even start!

Year after year, millions of animals are abused because they’re abandoned and because nobody’s going to notice they’re gone anyway. Approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are put down because there’s not enough time, energy, or money to take care of them.

And, to make matters even worse, animals that are rescued off the streets and taken to shelters for another chance at life end up getting put down, too, because not enough people want to adopt them.

Additionally, shelters are trying to make a difference by addressing community cat populations through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).

At the end of the day, TNR decreases the number of cats roaming the streets by stopping the breeding cycle. But TNR doesn’t do anything about the fact that people aren’t adopting animals.

“Adopt, don’t shop” shouldn’t be a slogan people turn to when they’re trying to win an argument, right? When you take the words seriously, you can save more than one life – you can save the life of the pet you adopted and the life of the abandoned animal that’s going to have a spot at the shelter thanks to you.

With that out of the way, we’re bringing you a story about a rescue cat named Henry that was fortunate enough to get adopted hours before getting put down. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Henry’s story motivates you to explore the possibility of adopting an abandoned animal.

Let’s get to the story. Henry was scheduled to get put down due to a lack of space and resources when a woman by the name of Adelle heard what was about to happen.

Adelle was working as a rescuer and foster mother at Cat Rescue Newcastle, a rescue dedicated to rehabilitating cats by getting them spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. The rescue center provides cats with flea and worm treatments, too, and gets them to a forever home the moment they’re ready to move on from foster care.

Rescuers and fosters working for Cat Rescue Newcastle are dedicated, hard-working volunteers that do everything humanely possible to help cats get a better chance at life. Adelle was one of the volunteers fostering cats and kittens at her own home when she heard of Henry’s story.

She rushed to the shelter where Henry was set to get put down and demanded to take the poor thing to the rescue with her. She was adamant about taking Henry home with her, but she was already taking care of a myriad of cats and kittens and thought Henry would be better off with a different foster volunteer.

Michelle, another foster at Cat Rescue Newcastle, had plenty of room for Henry but didn’t have the means to transport the poor thing from the shelter to her home. Adelle offered to help right away and decided to take Henry straight to Michelle’s home.

When Adelle embraced Henry, she didn’t know what to expect. Henry had been through thick and thin for the past few weeks and she was sure he’d be annoyed, or even aggressive.

Henry was the opposite – when he entered her car, he hopped on top of her and started headbutting her nose, licking her face, and rubbing himself against her. Somehow, Henry knew what was about to happen. He was aware that Adelle saved him from getting put down and was grateful for that.

Adelle mentioned that she allowed Henry to roam around the car when the two of them were waiting for Henry’s foster to pick him up. Henry was meowing his little heart out when he was in the cat carrier, and Adelle thought he was better off stretching and roaming around the car considering he suffered quite a terrible start of the morning. He wasn’t interested in that, though.

He was interested in thanking Adelle for her kindness, bumping her head, and kissing her face. Adelle was smitten with Henry’s affection and knew she did the right thing. She managed to get her phone out and record the remarkable moment of bonding between the two.

She responded to his kisses and reassured him that he was going to be okay.

Cat Rescue Newcastle posted the video with a caption explaining Henry’s story. Needless to say, Henry took the internet by storm, pulled on everyone’s heartstrings, and got adopted within the first few weeks of being out of the shelter that was set on putting him down.

“The moment I opened his cat carrier, Henry walked up onto my shoulder and gave me the most heartwarming kitty kiss I had ever received since becoming a foster carer,” Adelle wrote on Cat Rescue Newcastle’s Facebook page.

Adelle knew Henry was going to become someone’s BFF the moment she saw how affectionate and appreciative he was. And she was right – Henry was adopted by a lovely family that was more than happy to spoil him rotten and show him how adored he is.

We’re over the moon that Henry escaped death row, met Adelle, and got his happily ever after!