10 December 2023 , 15:00
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A naughty cat has been "jailed" in solitary confinement after continually letting other cats out of their shelter enclosures.
The shelter feline named Quilty, with "no shame", was caught by staff at Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization jail-breaking other felines out of the senior room "repeatedly, several times a day". Despite being given multiple warnings, the shelter staff failed to curb the problem.
Quilty has a chequered past of consistent offending, after staff at the shelter in Houston, Texas, discovered he used to let his dog sibling into the house at his old home. The shelter said in 2019: "His roommates missed him while he was banished to the lobby. They enjoyed their night time escapades around the shelter.
"The staff, however, did not miss the morning cat wrangling, so we'll just have to agree to disagree there." But a number of people were disheartened after hearing Quilty was behind bars.
An online campaign was launched to #FreeQuilty and the the shelter said that his review with the parole board had failed but he "released himself" anyway, before being returned to solitary.
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A spokesperson for the shelter explained at the time: "Quilty will not be contained. And he has no shame. Quilty loves to let cats out of the senior room. Repeatedly. Several times a day. We have since Quilty-proofed the cat room, while he took a brief hiatus in the lobby. His roommates missed him while he was banished to the lobby.
"They enjoyed their night-time escapades around the shelter. The staff, however, did not miss the morning cat wrangling, so we’ll just have to agree to disagree there." The shelter continued to post updates as Quilty tried, and failed, to escape through a window and a video showed the "spicy a-hole" being marched back to his holding cell after he got out and crashed a staff meeting.
Quilty was sentenced to solitary confinement for his naughty behaviour (Facebook)The post and attached photos went viral, garnering over 16,000 shares and more that 11,000 comments. Quilty became so beloved online that the shelter continued to update followers about the cat's antics.
One individual wrote: "Will Quilty let our dogs out for us at night? And would he let them back in? We might need him in our lives." Another replied: "I need Quilty! He will love my house! We have an open door policy (except to the outside) so he can go anywhere he wants!"
A third said: "These instructions I'm about to give you are extremely important. This mission is not optional, and is of essential priority. I need you to tell Quilty that I love him, and if at all possible, boop his snoot."
Quality's story appeared to be heading towards a happy ending when the shelter updated his adoption profile and he was put on a one-week period with a potential adopter.