Everyone who has a pet knows about the Moment. When they looked at an irresistible face and lost their heart in an instant. So many homeless animals could use a moment like that, a shot at a better life. It’s the question that haunts every overcrowded rescue centre in the world: How can you get more people to open their homes to a critter in need? You could put them in a box full of kittens. Yup, that’ll do the trick.
This idea is being put into practice at The Cat Museum in Singapore. The newly opened museum will trace the journey of the cat to this part of the world and feature all the ways in which they have inspired art and culture. But it’s most genius idea, and its reason for existing, has to do with finding these kitties a home for life. This has to be the only museum in the world that encourages you to take home the exhibits.
In a level of the museum called The Muses, visitors can spend time playing with the kittens and older cats up for adoption in a home-like setting. Since they are not caged-in like at most rescue centres, the cats are relaxed and playful, ie irresistible. It gives you the chance to see which personality you’d be most compatible with and it gives the kitty a chance to size you up too. You’ll either leave with a cat in a basket or a pang in your heart. How’s that for cunning marketing.
