You just never know how far a joke can go, but for the owner of Refurb, the three-legged cat, it ended up netting over $900 in donations. Refurb, who lost one of her legs when injured by a horse, was cared for and treated by the Animal Humane Society in Minnesota. She was then adopted and named “Refurb” by her new owner because she was refurbished, but in her new human companion’s words, “just as good as a new model”.
As a “celebri-kitty”, Refurb gained fame on Imgur back in January 2013. People fell in love with her and her best friend Tycho the dog who came from the same rescue organization. She won a lot of people’s hearts with her silly and playful purrsonality.
But the best story of all is her “Refurbographs.” “One of the users [on Something Awful] joked that he’d pay for a Refurb autograph – just a little paw print or something. I replied, somewhat sarcastically, that if he were to donate $10 to his local animal shelter, post proof, and email me his address, I would mail him a Refurb autograph. I figured he wouldn’t do it. Less than a week later, there had been 35 donations from all over the US, and six different countries across four continents. Donations are still coming in, too,” the human wrote via Imgur.
Read more at LoveMeow.com.
Refurb’s owner was a bit surprised by the overwhelming response to what he thought was just a joke. He is grateful for all the donations, but he also wants to remind folks that giving donations is wonderful but not the only way to help animals in need. Volunteering of your time in an animal shelter can be just as important to a cat or dog who are in great need of love and attention. Adoption is also a great way to show love and compassion to animals in a shelter.
In the meantime, Refurb continues to happily put her little paw in ink and sign autographs for donations.
