Cat Hangs Around A Hospital For A Year, Ends Up Getting Hired As A Security Cat

Meet Elwood, the red-white tabby who has been seen (quite a lot, in fact) hanging around the main entrance of the Epworth Hospital in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia. Chantel Trollip, a Pathologist here at Epworth Hospital, explained that Elwood has been coming to the hospital to chill pretty much every day for around a year now.
He pretty much spends his days either “securing” the front, checking if everyone has some pets and attention to give, or catching some sun in the nearby bushes. You know, doing what a cat does best.

One day, as she was coming in for work, Trollip noticed that Elwood is now sporting a collar with some sort of tag. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Elwood has apparently been hired to work as part of the Epworth security team. “I first noticed his ID badge on him in June. I was actually having a case of the sads that day, but seeing his ID badge turned my whole mood around!” explained Trollip. “When I first saw him, he wasn’t wearing anything, so I assumed he was a stray. Then someone put a collar and tag on him and now most recently he’s got his own ID badge, which is identical to our actual staff badges down to the call codes on the back.”

So, turns out, Elwood’s keen interest in keeping up public order at the hospital landed him a proper security guard job. Congratulations, Elwood! Though, it is important to note that his daily routine hasn’t really changed as he’s still doing the same two things: securing the door making sure nobody enters without a pet tax, and lazing around in the sun. “He is lovely and friendly, but not overly affectionate. He enjoys a good pat, but likes to keep things short and move around a fair bit. He is on the security team, after all, has to make sure everyone coming and going gets checked,” explained Trollip.

As for where Elwood came from, nobody was really sure about it until recently. Since Elwood had the tag and nobody took it off, it was presumed he’s a stray, but as it turns out, he lives across the road with his real family and a twin brother named Jake. He just comes to the other side of the road (Erin St) for work. “He’s never really tried to get into the hospital, I think he’s too small to activate the automatic doors anyway,” elaborated Trollip. “There is a kidney dish from the hospital that someone has turned into a water bowl for him.”

So, now that he’s a part of the security team, we’ve asked Trollip how many criminal activities he’s been able to thwart so far. She had this to say:

“I think any potential criminals are thwarted by his sweetness when passersby see him! He has a very sweet chirp of a meow and I think anyone with any ill will would automatically change their plans upon hearing it and so I assume this is his way of getting the job done.”

Employing cats is apparently a thing as also seen in the Order of Attorneys of Brazil, a bar association that has employed Leon the kitten after getting complaints of a stray cat wandering the premises. Well, instead of getting rid of him, they hired the cat and now he’s an attorney. What are your thoughts on this? Would you hire Elwood to keep an eye on your premises? Let us know in the comments section below!