About six months ago, Terry Lauerman started coming by the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a non-profit cat shelter that specializes in rehoming special needs cats. He asked if he could volunteer sometime, and Elizabeth Feldhausen, the founder of the rescue, welcomed him aboard. Before long he was coming by every day to brush the cats.
The thing about Terry is that when he brushes the cats, he tends to doze off for a little nap.
No one seems to mind his napping, especially the cats. Whichever one is with him when he nods off becomes his snuggle buddy for the afternoon. After a few pictures of him taking his little “catnaps” got posted on Facebook, the internet went genuinely nuts for him – and in no time at all, the cat napper went totally viral.
Photo Credit: Facebook
Before long, Terry was on the front page of Reddit, the original post had over 3,000,000 likes, and people were begging Terry to get his own social media accounts to post pictures to. The odds of that happening, however, are pretty slim – he says he can barely keep up with his email.
Photo Credit: Facebook
He is glad the pics have gotten the shelter a lot of attention, and he hopes it brings in some donations and helps some cats find homes. And in fact, donations have soared since Terry acquired his newfound fame – the shelter raised over $30,000 in one week!
Photo Credit: Facebook
Safe Haven has managed to find permanent homes for about 300 cats in the last two years, and Tony is happy to help. But until the cats go their forever homes, Terry knows all about each of his feline friends. What they like and dislike, and what special needs each has.
Photo Credit: Facebook
You keep napping on, Terry!