UPDATE: The Lexington Humane Society tells LEX 18 that Ben the Labrador and Tarkin the tabby cat were adopted together on Wednesday!
ORIGINAL STORY:
A large Labrador, his feline sibling, and their unlikely new shelter friend are all hoping to find a new home together.
When Ben the big black Lab arrived at the Lexington Humane Society, workers could tell he was having a tough time. He came in a couple of weeks ago, when his owner had to move into assisted living. Ben was cowering in his cage and also picked up a cold.
"We looked and saw that he came in with a cat as well, his feline sibling. We thought maybe he's missing his feline sibling," said Meghan Hawkins of the Lexington Humane Society.
Ben's "brother" is Tarkin, a tabby cat. He and Ben came into the shelter together.
"We think they're both about five years old. They've probably lived together their whole lives," Hawkins said.
They were able to bring the two together to see if that lifted Ben's spirits.
"They bumped noses and they bumped heads and brushed up against each other," Hawkins said. "Ben was happier. Tarkin's a cat, so we couldn't tell whether he was happy or not. He had the same expression, same mood before and after. He's pretty chill and laid back as you can see."
It turns out, Tarkin's not the only cat that took a liking to Ben.
"You always hear the classic cats vs. dogs, cats rule and dogs drool, and you don't really see this relationship with such a large dog being so friendly with such a small cat," Hawkins said.
Frog is a 7-week-old kitten in the Humane Society's intensive care. 1-pound Frog seemingly fell in love with 110-pound Ben while he was being cared for. Workers said Frog tagged along with Ben, following him everywhere he went throughout the vet office.
"You can tell, Ben is a dog that's great with cats. Doesn’t faze him," Hawkins said.
Little Frog is living in a foster home, separate from Tarkin and Ben for the time being, but the dream is to see them all leave the shelter together.
