He said that he couldn’t resist. He had to adopt a black cat named Dennis Quaid from the Lynchburg Humane Society in Virginia where he had been for a year waiting for the right person to come along. In an interview with 10 News in Roanoke on Wednesday Mr Quaid said that he was out to save all the Dennis Quaids of the world.
The cat, Dennis Quaid, is 6 years of age, has “a big heart” and “likes to curl up on the couch”. He was featured on a local television news segment as part of a “clear the shelters” campaign.
We are not sure whether Dennis Gray himself telephoned the shelter. When they were contacted and told that he wanted to adopt the cat Dennis Quaid (you have to make sure that you differentiate the two!) they thought that somebody was taking the Mickey. Once they were convinced it was the real deal they made arrangements for the two to meet up using the Zoom remote meeting application.
Mr Quaid says that Dennis Quaid the cat is going to be an office cat. He co-founded the entertainment company Audio Up which produces his podcast The Pet Show, which is cohosted with Jimmy Jellinek.
He’s going to be the office cat. He is going to be right here with us. We can’t wait.
He suggests that maybe it should be more common for rescue cats to be named after celebrities and film stars because it may attract more adopters including the celebrity after whom they are named.
Please note that sometimes videos disappear because they are pulled for various reasons by the administrators of the site from which they originate, normally YouTube. If that has happened, I apologise.
Dennis Quaid the film star will feature in Audio Up’s scripted country music podcast Make It up As We Go. It has a star-studded cast including Billy Bob Thornton and will premiere on iHeartPodcast Networks on October 1. It is the story of a young singer and songwriter as she tries to make it in the music industry.
Comment: I don’t think anybody needs an introduction about Dennis Quaid the film star but I’ll add a few lines. He has a very impressive CV. He is the son of a real estate agent and an electrician (his father). His background is exotic: English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Cajun French ancestry. He dropped out of the University of Houston and went to Hollywood to pursue his career in acting where he struggled initially but was noticed when he appeared in Breaking Away in 1979. He had good reviews for his role as an astronaut Gordon Cooper in The Right Stuff which was aired in 1983. He is known for his grin and has played dramatic and comedic roles.
I am an animal and can advocate. I am delighted that he has adopted a black cat. We all know that black cats are sometimes the last to be adopted from animal shelters. There is still superstition surrounding black cats which puts people off and some people perceive the colour black as unattractive. For Dennis Quaid to adopt a black cat named after him as a fantastic endorsement for black cats anywhere and I hope that it improves their prospects for adoption. They deserve it.
And Mr Quaid deserves praise. He really does. He has got to be a decent bloke.
HERE ARE SOME MORE PAGES ON BLACK CATS: