Apparently, I’m not alone in piling on pounds during hotel stays. According to Willis Loughhead, the Algonquin hotel’s general manager, long term guest Hamlet the Eighth is struggling to shift his post-pandemic pounds. His excess calories don’t come from room service, though, but titbit-proffering guests. For Hamlet is a hotel cat – one of a growing number of New York working cats employed not only for their rat-catching skills, but their people skills.
New York is famous for many things, including rats, hence the recent appointment of the Algonquin’s first so-called rat czar. Someone else doing their bit is Sheila Massey, founder of Hard Hat Cats. Massey previously worked with volunteer groups which neutered and vaccinated strays, before returning them to their colonies. “The aim is to stop breeding, but another benefit is rat deterrence – neighbourhoods with cat colonies are rat-free,” says Sheila. After hearing how working cats helped rid a Chicago brewery of rodents, Sheila founded Hard Hat Cats, which works with a shelter to rehome cats unsuitable for families – but perfectly suited to certain distilleries, breweries and hotels.
