BLOG #4
Learning about Sadie The Cat
After just a week of my internship, I quickly realized I kept encountering the same problem. I kept getting asked questions that weren’t in my training or in the information gallery. I wanted to deal with it immediately, so I did an easy bullet list of the top questions I got asked. I took the initiative and asked if I could check with the museum historian first with some questions I couldn’t find online. There used to be a museum cat we had on “staff” who was in charge of pest control. Their name was Sadie and she was known to be very outgoing with many frequent visitors looking just to see how she’s been.
Visitors asked when she was adopted and why she is not on site anymore. I was informed the museum adopted Sadie as a kitten in 1999 around June. Although she was beloved and did a great job keeping mice away, Sadie was getting old. Sadie began to get bigger which came with health problems and her fur became matted so the team decided to retire her in 2013. A custodian who was very attached to Sadie offered a forever home and that’s all that’s known. Why the museum won’t be getting another feline is just out of the safety concerns for customers. With more interactive children-focused events and programs there’s more risk of allergies and may have kids following the cat to places they are not allowed to be near. Since the tracks are active there is just too much to risk for both the cat and the children. So now I have an answer to visitors who ask about Sadie and why there won’t be a new cat on the block.
