Is a supermarket cat really a health and safety risk? In the UK, in a town called Brockley, a very masculine looking ginger moggy cat, with a grumpy appearance, lives next door to a Sainsbury’s supermarket and he likes to visit the supermarket. He spends a lot of time there. He has been ejected from the supermarket by staff because the management say that he is a health and safety risk.
The staff like him. The customers appear to like him as well. He has become a celebrity. He is not, in truth, a safety or health risk to customers. What he is, in fact, is a worry to the management because they have strict rules to abide by to reduce the risk of the company being sued for negligence by customers.
They are obviously sensitive to making mistakes which can cause a customer to become injured. It only takes one less than sensible customer to perhaps mishandle this cat causing the cat to inadvertently scratch the customer to then lead to a claim for compensation. That is the problem. The problem really is the customers if you want to put it that way together with the management who are frightened of losing their jobs if something untoward happens with respect to this cat. The cat is minding his business and not pestering or upsetting anyone.
The cat’s name is Ollie. He found fame last November when this picture was posted online. He had sauntered into the store as confident as ever. Security removed him but he sauntered back in again. Ollie’s caretaker has told the world online that he has a loving home and that he is six-years-of-age. He has a brother who has a blue (grey) coat.
What do you think? Do you think that a cat who likes to spend his time at a supermarket is a health hazard to customers? Perhaps the real answer to this dilemma is that the cat’s caretaker, Kate, should do something to see if she can entertain him because I sense that Ollie needs entertainment. Perhaps he is left alone all day, which is not uncommon, and therefore goes to the supermarket to be with people. Domestic cats like to be with humans and if you are confident cat you don’t mind if the humans are strangers.
There are other supermarket cats. They are not that rare. People warm to them and like their presence. Domestic cats are accepted in book shops. Why not supermarkets? Yes there is food in supermarkets but cats don’t contaminate packaged food or any food for that matter.
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