This is an unusual story, but when I read it, I thought it only fitting that one of the most famous metal bands in history be spotlighted on one of the top cat websites in history. It’s a story to warm the heart, and may even change your perception of heavy metal bands.
Slayer was scheduled to play a packed show at Old National Centre in Indianapolis on December 4. It was cold and the band guitarist Kerry King was at St. Elmo’s steak house the night before the show enjoying dinner with several members of the road crew. On their way out, Slayer’s assistant tour manager Jess Cortese saw a homeless man on the street. The man offered to see his kitten for a dollar. In an interview with Nuvo.net, Manager Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald described the kitten as freezing. Jess rescued the kitty, who slept with her in her bunk on the bus that night.
Another of the runners knew of someone looking to adopt a cat, so the band made arrangements to get the kitten to the person who wanted to adopt. The new owner, Penny Hamilton-Riley, recently wrote on her Facebook wall about her new baby, whom she named Gypsy
“I gave her a bath last night then she slept for five hours on the heating pad. She’s at the vet this morning being treated for fleas and worms.”
The band received a lot of good publicity after saving Gypsy. Gypsy no longer has to live outside hungry and cold, and Penny got a new best friend. Oh, and Slayer possibly got a new campaign mascot, as seen in the photo above. It’s nice to know the band has a soft spot for homeless kittens.
Note: “Thrash metal” is a sub-genre of heavy metal and more extreme.
This story got my attention because I had a MySpace friend who grew up with one of the members and talked about them a lot.
As for me, I’m still stuck in the 80s with Def Leppard. 🙂