Friday, December 16, 2011

Mr Magoo, the blind cat that paints

A cat is showing off some serious skills in the Valley. His name is Mr. Magoo and he's become quite the artist. These days you can find Mr Magoo inside of his cat condo at the Valley Animal Center in East Central Fresno, California. Mr. Magoo is completely blind - a result of an upper respiratory infection that never got treated by his previous owner.

The nine-year-old Siamese came to the shelter two years ago and is considered a resident. And since you can't adopt him -- most of the volunteers just call him retired. "Mr Magoo happens to be one of our most famous residents. And so we thought well maybe we'll try it out with him. And it worked," said Katie Dezso. "It really worked." What Katie Dezso is referring to is Mr. Magoo's ability to paint. That's right paint. What started as a fun art project turned into a calling card for the special needs cat.


YouTube link.

Workers quickly discovered his magical paws last week at an art event for animals. And while most other cats need help - Mr Magoo does just fine on his own. "Mr Magoo he's just like give me my paint," said Katie Dezso. "I'm going to dip on my own. I'll make my own design." Spend five minutes painting with Mr. Magoo and you'll notice right away his trademark move. And adoption assistants aren't worried - in fact that is what they say makes him unique.

"Just from him circling around like he does which is one of his kind of unfortunate habits," said Katie Dezso. "But we've turned it into something positive. That's what really creates the design and really mixes up the colors and gets those really unique pieces." Other cats and dogs are joining in on the fun with Mr Magoo. Workers posted a YouTube video of their efforts and hope people will purchase a painting around $30.00 to help them find matching families who are ready to adopt. "What we're hopeful for is that we can turn it into basically a fundraising campaign," said Katie Dezso. "100% of the proceeds from all of these canvases will go directly to the animals."

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