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#freeQuilty

#FreeQuilty is for every cat on the wrong side of the door.

Incredulous Quilty

It all started by calling a cat a spicy a-hole on the internet.

We posted an update on one of our #adoptables, Quilty. It was a draft post that we had been sitting on for a while. We thought “Okay, we’ll throw this one up.”

We haven’t slept since.

The post that started it all…

We think the BuzzFeed article pretty accurately describes the progression,
if you just want the highlights.

#FreeQuilty is for every cat on the wrong side of the door.

People are saying some pretty awesome stuff…

Quilty is not a cat, it’s an idea. You can’t kill the idea or put it in jail.

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@hsafari56

IG Follower + Freedom Fighter

I know I’m not alone in saying that we all deserve a friend/icon like Quilty in our lives.

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Pablo Valdivia

BuzzFeed Staff

Spartacats. We are all Quilty on this day.

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@lisirsc

IG Follower + Philosopher

To the members of the #freeQuilty movement, this is just the beginning.

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Salise Shuttlesworth

Quilty’s Legal Counsel, Friends For Life Founder/Executive Director, + Evolved Rebel – from Quilty’s official press statement delivered November 9, 2019

You’ve got a rescue cat that’s rescuing other cats!

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Roy Wood Jr.

The Daily Show

Quilty, the cat I want on my team when the revolution starts

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@NakagawaPhoenix

Twitter Follower + Revolutionary

A legend, an icon, a true American hero. Quilty for president.

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Sarah Jones

Writer, New York Magazine

Lisa sux.

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Quilty

OG Spicy A-Hole

Yet another genius punished for not conforming to society’s rules FREE QUILTY

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@RealSillyOwl

Twitter Follower + Obvious Genius

…and, of course, people said some weird stuff, because… it’s the internet. #wut

I’ll pray for you, Quality.

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IG Follower

I see the ? but where is your ???

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Facebook

Cool i like cats and some dont

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Henry

User comment on press coverage

GRAPE JELLY

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Alisesay Uttlesworthshay

NPR

YOU MOTHA F CKAZ …..RELEASE QUILTY NOW!!!!!!

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Twitter…

I’d die for this cat.

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A ton of people on every platform

Quilty’s Official Statement

Press Conference • November 9, 2019


The movement is always bigger than the one who begins it.

When I freed those cats—my compadres, my soulmates, my teammates—I freed them so that they could get on the right side of the door; the side of the door where there’s a home. And so, you might be asking yourself today, ‘Self, what’s happening with the free Quilty movement, if Quilty’s free?’

#FreeQuilty is for every cat that’s on the wrong side of the door. Every spicy a-hole who’s misunderstood. Every cat that’s sitting at any shelter, anywhere, knocking stuff off a counter, refusing to eat wet food, swatting people who want to pet them, trying to open a door, ready to get a home. And we will keep #FreeQuilty alive as long as there’s any cat, anywhere, on the wrong side of the door.

Read Full Transcript


The official #pressconference for #freeQuilty from my legal counsel, Salise Shuttlesworth, J.D. I know it's long (she talks a lot), but you need to hear my official statement. The press also had some questions at the end of the conference.KEEP THE MOVEMENT ALIVE. #staywithme#HabeausCattus #purrole #NoMoreDoors #QuiltyNotGuilty #NotYouLisa

Posted by Friends For Life Animal Shelter on Saturday, 9 November 2019

Ramblings + Recommendations

Lessons Learned From Rocky, The King of Cats

cashmere

Feline Enrichment

mia

Community Cats: Discover the truth about the vacuum effect

Want to rep’ the movement with swag?

Shirts

Human Shirts

    Get a Shirt
    Free Quilty Sticker Square

    Stickers

    Put them literally anywhere

      Get a Sticker
      Free Quilty Wristband Square

      Wristbands

      The perfect accessory for any outfit

        Get a Wristband

        The news seemed to love Quilty too…

        ‘Free Quilty’: Twitter Agog Over Adoptable Cat Who Keeps Opening The Door To Free His Comrades

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        Newsweek

        Marika Malaea

        A Shelter Cat Is Now A Hero For Helping Other Cats Escape From Their Room

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        BuzzFeed

        Pablo Valdivia

        Shelter is forced to lock Quilty the cat in ‘solitary confinement’ because he keeps FREEING his fellow felines

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        Daily Mail

        Jerry Barmash

        Mischief feline in shelter lets other cats out of rooms

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        Toronto Sun

        Eddie Chau

        A mutinous cat was put in ‘solitary confinement’ for freeing other cats from a shelter. Now he’s a star

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        CNN

        AJ Willingham

        A Sprinkling of Sunshine – Animals in The News

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        The Daily Show

        Roy Wood Jr. + Trevor Noah

        A rogue cat who ‘will not be contained’ keeps trying to free his shelter comrades

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        The Washington Post

        Antonia Noori Farzan

        A shelter cat freed his feline friends. So he got put in ‘solitary’ and won’t stop busting out

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        USA Today

        Ryan Miller

        Stop Entering the Democratic Party Primary (Quilty for President)

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        New York Magazine

        Sarah Jones

        Sly Escape Artist Shelter Cat ‘Quilty’ Who Will Not Be Contained Keeps Freeing His Cat Comrades

        avatar

        TIME

        Melissa Locker

        ‘Door Ninja’ shelter cat busted setting other cats free

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        CNET

        Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

        Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me:
        Bluff The Listener

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        NPR

        Peter Sagal

        And these are the just the highlights. You can find all of his coverage on our Press page.


        Glossary of Terms

        habeas cattus

        /ˌhābēəs ˈkat.tus / • noun • LAW

        a writ requiring a cat available for adoption to be brought before a potential adopter or into a potential forever home, especially to secure the cat’s release unless grounds are shown for their retention.

        Knob

        “Every great movement starts with one rebel. One voice. One set of paws that turn the cultural knob of progress. And we live in a time that there are certainly plenty of knobs preventing progress.

        The #freeQuilty movement is about overcoming all the knobs that stand in our way. Some knobs are people and some are policies… advocated by people who… are knobs.

        Together, we are going after them. Ruthlessly. Relentlessly. On the interwebs. In donning our #freeQuilty gear. Because, not to put too fine a point on it, it isn’t the doors that are the problem—it’s the knobs.“

        Citation: Quilty’s official statement, delivered in his November 9, 2019 press conference.

        Lisa

        Someone who sux. ? – Q

        See also:
        • Lisa
        • IG @lisa.the.special.kitty

        Sleepover

        A sleepover is part of the Friends For Life adoption process. It’s a one-week period1 during which the adoptable animal goes to the potential adopters home to see how it’s all going to work out.

        This step comes after someone’s application is approved, and you’ve completed a meet-and-greet with the animal at the shelter. If you already have a dog/dogs, and you’re looking to adopt a dog, we’d also use that meet-and-greet to introduce the doggos. (Click here for full details on the adoption process.)

        Taking an animal on a sleepover includes:

        • Signing the sleepover contract2
        • If the animal requires a spay/neuter deposit (animals under 6 months), you leave that deposit3
        • We’ll give you all the stuff you need for the sleepover (crate, toys, bedding, food, etc. etc. etc.)

        After the Sleepover
        If the sleepover goes well and everyone is copacetic, the adopter finalizes the adoption. That includes:

        • Signing the adoption contract
        • Paying the adoption fee4
        • Receiving all of the veterinary, behavior, and microchip information
        • If you could kindly bring the stuff back that we lent, that’d be awesome, but we aren’t going to chase you down for it—we just run entirely on donations, soooo… (PLEASE return our cat carriers…)

        If the sleepover doesn’t go well, the potential adopter simply brings the animal back and we can try with another animal that might be a better fit.


        Footnotes:
        1 Can be longer, for some animals, or if the potential adopter wants
        2 Pretty much saying you’re not going to steal the animal, and that you’ll let us know if anything goes wrong
        3 The deposit is $250 and is fully refunded once we receive proof that the animal has been spayed/neutered by 6 months
        4 Usually $95, but we have promos

        Spicy A-Hole


        Seriously? You don’t know what this means? And you want us to say it? We’re not going to.

        Original Quilty Spicy Ahole comment

        See also:
        Incredulous Quilty

        quid pro quilty

        We don’t even know. Whatever. It’s clever.

        Wets

        Wet cat food.

        You can buy some for the cats at Friends For Life by clicking here.

        See also:
        • This amazing video.

        [instagram-feed num=12 cols=6 user=’free_quilty’]

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