In an amusing turn of events, a cat is now the newest employee to be hired at a United States airport to help calm nervous flyers, as per a report in the Independent. The feline, known as Duke Ellington Morris became the latest member of San Francisco International Airport's "Wag Brigade".
The airport's Twitter account announced the hiring of the 14-year-old black and white cat with its picture alongside the caption, "Purrlease welcome our newest Wag Brigade member, Duke Ellington Morris!" In the now-viral photo, the cat is seen wearing a small pilot's hat and shirt collar.
The Wag Brigade, which was established in 2013, "brings trained animals to the terminals to make passenger travel more enjoyable," according to the airport. The program resumed in 2021 after a long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported USA Today.
The programme was initially only available for dogs but it has now been expanded to include other trained animals such as cats, rabbits and even LilLou, the "world's first therapy pig."
The San Francisco SPCA certifies the animals and requires that they successfully complete its Animal Assisted Therapy course. The animals are then chosen for their temperament and demeanour.
According to the airport, Duke was brought to San Francisco Animal Care and Control in 2010 after it was discovered starving among a colony of feral cats. It was adopted by a five-year-old girl who got it certified as a therapy animal.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that animals have been brought into airports to cheer up travellers. The Cincinnati/Northern Ohio Airport adopted therapeutic miniature horses in 2017 in an effort to soothe anxious tourists entering the premises.
