COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — After 15 years with the Collierville Animal Services, one kitty certainly has earned her keep. "Cinnamon" was a feral cat that used to live in the shelter's parking lot. Now, she fulfills the unique duty of socializing new cats to the shelter.
Nina Wingfield is the Director of Collierville Animal Services.
“In 2007 this little cat came up, and we trapped her just like we trap all the feral cats in Collierville, and we spayed her." Wingfield said. "Then, a couple years ago, she came up with a limp.”
Once a vet cleared Cinnamon of her medical condition, she found a place in Wingfield's office.
"She’s like our therapy cat," Animal Care Technician and Animal Control Officer Sandy Kraemer said. "She takes care of all our young kittens that we get in. She correct them. She make them behave themselves.”
Cinnamon is the one cat who staff members say is "not up for adoption."
"She is our best interrogator for new interviews," Wingfield said. "Cinnamon critiques them and she will let us know if it’s thumbs up or thumbs down.”
Cinnamon's services extend to checking in on staff as well.
"When we are having a bad day, we come in here and sit on the couch and Cinnamon will get in your lap and just love on you," Kraemer said.
Affectionately nick-named "the grandma cat," Cinnamon has never strayed too far.
“She gets to watch the feral cats that live on our property outside and she’s never once wanted to go out that door,” Wingfield said. “We brought her in, put her in a cage to let our vet look at her and everybody thought, 'oh she’s gonna freak out being in a cage.' She loved it!”
Still, the Collierville Animal Services has a plethora of pets up for adoption. Through their program "Seniors for Seniors" a senior human adopter can go adopt a senior pet for free. The commonplace adoption fee is covered by the shelter’s donation funding.
"We have a lot of kittens and cats of various ages," Wingfield said. "We have puppies and dogs too and they would love to have a forever home."