image via @stlfco — The Chosen One?
The adorable kitten who single-handedly transformed the fortunes of the St. Louis Cardinals may again be in safekeeping.
As of early this morning, a cat that bore a very, very strong resemblance to the brave little beast dubbed Rally Cat was in the custody of St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach — and was both alive and well.
The non-profit organization announced in a tweet last night that a very familiar-looking kitten had been captured at downtown’s Citygarden, where rally cat was allegedly last seen .
The little feline is being examined to see if he (or she) fit the profile.
We did trap a kitten at @CitygardenSTL overnight. We will be trying to determine if it is #Rallycat . pic.twitter.com/o5Y5IIcYoU — STLFCO (@stlfco) August 11, 2017
Citygarden’s official Twitter account confirmed the announcement by STLFCO
just a few hours ago, this time definitively stating that the little captured kitty is, in fact, Rally Cat. And while we can’t take that as gospel, the resemblance is striking.
#RallyCat has been found and is in custody! Thanks to the City’s team for their work last night and this AM. #BREAKNEWS ! #Citygarden https://t.co/E2JGQpAilQ — Citygarden (@CitygardenSTL) August 11, 2017
Many searched Citygarden for Rally Cat for the past day, including members of St. Louis City’s Trap Neuter Rescue Force. The manhunt (cathunt?) was so intense, Citygarden took to pleading for privacy.
To All #RallyCat Fans: St. Louis City’s TNR Task Force (Trap Neuter Rescue) will be on site tonight, tomorrow and as needed. Please…(1) — Citygarden (@CitygardenSTL) August 10, 2017
give them space and allow them to help #RallyCat . Let’s let the professionals do their job so we can help the kitten! @Cardinals #Citygarden https://t.co/iwopTmxsGn — Citygarden (@CitygardenSTL) August 10, 2017
The cat had been last spotted there by Korie Harris, a local cat lover at the Cardinals game when Rally Cat made his debut by streaking across the outfield in the bottom of the sixth. Harris apparently lied to staffers and said she owned the cat.
But after posing for photos with interested bystanders and media , Harris lost the cat. She says he made a break for it near Citygarden. (And yeah, based on how he treated the Cards’ staffer assigned to get him out of the outfield, we’re not doubting that part of her story for a second.)
Even while cat lovers searched the city for the missing feline hero, Rally Cat fever swept St. Louis — and apparently the nation. In fact, per Post-Dispatch , Fox Sports Midwest announced that Rally Cat helped boost ratings to their second highest mark of the year on Wednesday night.
The St. Louis Cardinals even released an official statement yesterday saying their grounds crew is developing a protocol when dealing with stray animals should events like these ever happen again.
And that’s good news as far as we’re concerned. Let’s face it. All this Rally Cat news has been way too much excitement for one city.
More as this story develops.
