In probably the most bonkers news story I have ever had the pleasure of writing, Gus the water-loving Tonkinese cat became the subject of death threats (?!) from Sydney dog owners after he entered a local dog swimming race and actually placed. Fight the system, little dude.
The Scotland Island Dog Race is held every Christmas Eve in a 550-metre stretch of water between Scotland Island and Church Point in northern Sydney.
Glenn Druery, a political strategist, entered Gus in the contest as a bit of a joke in 2019 because his cat loves playing in water so much.
“[Gus has] been swimming since he was about 11 weeks old,” Druery told A Current Affair.
“He swims with me, he kayaks with me. We treat him like he’s part of our lifestyle.
“For a bit of a laugh we entered Gus in the race and lo and behold he came first in his category.”
What Druery didn’t expect though was how offended people would be at the fact Gus beat some local dogs. Apparently local dog owners were so bitter at Gus’ success that the pair received death threats, prompting Druery to pull Gus out of any future races.
“We actually had threats. Gus had threats,” Druery said.
“One of these local parochial yobbos said he was going to shoot the cat and beat me up if he ever saw us again.
“Another woman gestured this [mimes slitting throat] and pointed to the cat.
“I work in politics and I get that sort of nonsense all the time and I can deal with that, but they threaten[ed] my cat, for God’s sake.”
I’m sorry but I am absolutely losing it at the thought of a woman gesturing slitting her throat at a random cat. A CAT. He doesn’t know what that means!!!!
Local man Vinnie, who is not one of the people who physically threatened Gus, told A Current Affair the pair shouldn’t have entered because the race was an “island thing”. Oh, so now we’re gate-keeping from a CAT?!
“Then you get idiots bringing cats down. It’s just like you’re taking the piss,” Vinnie said.
“It’s like taking a knife to a gun fight. It’s just not gonna work.”
Except Gus came first in his category, so it did work and isn’t at all like taking a knife to a gun fight.
“It’s just stupid. It’s a dog race,” Vinnie continued.
“What are you bringing a cat for mate?”
The funniest part about this to me is that the organisers allowed Druery to enter, probably because they also thought it was funny.
Gus won’t be in any other races though, even though he did so well, because Druery reckons his safety has been threatened.
“I think one thing Gus would be pushing for, if he could speak, would be changing the name from the Scotland Island Dog Race to the Scotland Island Pet Race,” he said.
I am actually dying at the implication that cats are an oppressed class. Honestly, go off king. Make dog races species-neutral in 2023!!!
