Rescuers were puzzled by why a shelter cat was brought in with bright blue fur. Some questioned whether he was a victim of a dog fighting ring.
However, shelter officials didn’t think that was the case. The tabby cat was brought into a Michigan animal shelter with blue, green, and indigo hues dyed over his golden fur.
Theo Randall, who goes by @manicrandall on TikTok, posted a video of the kitty who was named “Smurf.” The video stated that the shelter staff didn’t know why he was blue.
Kitty colored blue
The cat was very sweet and pawed through its cage for some affection from shelter staff. Smurf immediately plopped over and let the shelter staff scratch his head when his cage was opened.
Besides his mysteriously colored coat, Smurf was in good health. He didn’t seem to mind being dyed blue.
Smurf’s video quickly went viral with millions of people viewing it. More than 17,900 people commented on Smurf.
Some people in the comments started speculating that Smurf may have been the victim of a dog fighting operation.
WLWT5 reported on a case where two kittens were also found with dyed fur. The news outlet said cats with dyed hair are a “red flag” for a dog fighting ring.
But Steve Kelso, the marketing and communications manager for the Kent County Health Department, didn’t believe Smurf wasn’t one of these victims.
Bad dye job
“He appears so super healthy,” Kelso told Newsweek. “We’ve got a full-time vet over there, they looked over the cat. There’s no physical abuse or damage, aside from dying the cat. This cat is so well-adjusted to people that it’s hard to believe that was part of this kitty’s life.”
Randall also confirmed that “Smurf is NOT a dogfighting bait cat.”
“I went over [to the shelter] and I held that cat for about 15 minutes,” Kelso said. “He was the sweetest, most docile cat. We had never met before, and that cat sat in my arms for about 15 minutes just having his head scratched.”
It was later discovered that Smurf did have an owner and that he was professionally dyed with pet-safe dye. Unfortunately, Smurf wasn’t reunited with his original owner.
“The owner has a week to come get him, and unfortunately she never showed when she said she would,” Randall said. “Smurf doesn’t understand why he wasn’t claimed but will be adopted by a loving family in our area.”
It didn’t take long for sweet Smurf to get adopted into a new loving home that will love him no matter what color he is!