<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of New England Cable News (Newton, Massachusetts) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Caturday-Yes-Those-Are-Cats-on-Leashes-438907653.html">https://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Caturday-Yes-Those-Are-Cats-on-Leashes-438907653.html</a></div><div><br></div>———————————————</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><h1 class="headline" itemprop="headline" style="font-size: 2.188em; margin: 0px 0px 0.67em; clear: both; width: 982.078125px; height: auto; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); padding-right: 16px; font-family: Roboto; font-weight: 300; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Yes, Those Are Cats on Leashes on the Boston Common</h1></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Yes, you just saw a group of cats hanging out on the Boston Common.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">More than 100 cats, kitty parents, and cat enthusiasts gathered for Boston’s first ever "Caturday" on the Common on Sunday. The event was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to rain.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Despite the delay, cats came out in droves, some in strollers, others prancing about on leashes.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">"The event could have been postponed till next month, but I think the group was so excited for this event that we were like, 'puns be damned,'" Pauline, a 27-year-old cat owner from Melrose, told NBC Boston.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">One of her cats, Kai, travelled far to become a Bostonian — all the way from Hawaii. Pauline’s second cat, Jeans, is a local rescue.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Kristin Leigh Porcello is an administrator of the Boston Common Caturday Facebook page, and one of a group of event organizers. Porcello said at least 20 cats came, "one even as young as 2 weeks old and whose human was demonstrating bottle feeding."</div><div dir="ltr">She was thrilled by how many people were inspired to foster and adopt cats. Porcello also knows a thing or two about leash training, and began training her three cats at around 10 weeks of age.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">"I kept hearing how visitors were shocked with how at ease the leash trained cats were. I brought my two cats who were weaving in between groups of people looking to collect as much love and pets as they could," she said.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Kyah Marrou drove in from Cambridge with her boyfriend and cat Coraline, a 4-year old cat adopted from a shelter in North Carolina. Coraline was pleased with the event.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">"Coraline was certainly enjoying all the attention she was getting, and even a few other cats walked over to say hi to her ... and it surprised me how well the cats were getting along with each other. From where I was sitting there was at least 30 or so cats," Marrou said.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">One cat popping up on social media was Alex, the 6-year-old orange Tabby.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">"I’ve been taking him out for walks on the Common since he was a kitten, so this Caturday get-together was on home turf for Alex," cat owner Steven Watson, of Boston, said. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">A real-life Jon Arbuckle, Watson knows Alex well.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">"Alex is used to being in the company of other felines, but never so many at once. We mingled for a couple of hours with a dozen or so other cats, usually one on one," he said explained.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The best way to describe Caturday (and there are more planned in the future) is best summarized by organizer Porcello.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">She said, "It was a free roaming event, just cat people and their furbabies bonding."</div></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div>———————————————</div><div><br></div><div>“A Cat Named Kalamazoo”</div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Songs/A_Cat_Named_Kalamazoo.mp3">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Songs/A_Cat_Named_Kalamazoo.mp3</a><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></body></html>