Animal Rescue League Of Boston (ARL) came up with a simple yet genius invention - 'Kitty Bjorn'. Yup, it's just like the famous carry-on vests for human babies, but these ones are for feral kittens.
See, feral felines up to 4 months old can still be socialized into a family and get adopted, but only if they get a lot of exposure to people. As shelter staff members can't always give them as much attention as the kitties need, they needed a solution that would allow them to socialize feral kittens AND be able to carry on with their daily tasks.
“The idea was to have something that allowed the kittens to socialize, and be hands-free, thus allowing staff and volunteers to multi-task (answering phones, talking with clients etc.),” Michael DeFina from ARL Boston told The Dodo. “The design allows the kitten to be flooded with stimuli in a safe way while being constantly monitored by whoever is wearing the vest.”
The shelter has been successfully using the vests for the last 7 years, making the process of socializing ferals much faster. They can be ready for adoption in just 48 hours or sooner. No wonder the shelter is looking into making more Kitty Bjorns and is open for collaborations.
Animal Rescue League Of Boston (ARL) came up with a simple yet genius invention - 'Kitty Bjorn'
It's just like the famous carry-on vests for human babies, but these ones are for feral kittens
See, feral felines up to 4 months old can still be socialized into a family and get adopted...
But only if they get a lot of exposure to people
Busy staff members needed a solution that would allow them to socialize feral kittens
“The idea was to have something that allowed the kittens to socialize, and be hands-free"
"Thus allowing staff and volunteers to multi-task (answering phones, talking with clients etc.)”
“The design allows the kitten to be flooded with stimuli in a safe way while being constantly monitored...”
