Here’s a story warming the hearts of America through social media. A Wisconsin man has made napping a wildly popular charitable act. Terry Lauerman, 75-years-old, goes to his local animal shelter in Green Bay every day so that he can snooze with cats.
According to Elizabeth Feldhausen, the founder of Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary, Lauerman came into the shelter about six months ago with a simple dream and a cat brush in tow.
“He just walked in and started brushing,” Feldhausen said on Thursday to Huffington Post. He was never asked to be a volunteer and never intended on napping regularly.
“So eventually we told him he was an official volunteer and had him fill out our volunteer form.”
Feldhausen said Lauerman visits the cage-free sanctuary — which rescues disabled cats that would be at risk of euthanasia at other facilities — daily and stays for about three hours.
After he grooms a cat for a bit, he typically dozes off.
“[He sleeps for] about an hour, then he’ll wake up and switch cats,” said Feldhausen.
“He said, [the brushing is] as great of an experience for him, as it is for them,” Feldhausen said.
Lauerman has become popular with the staff at Safe Haven, and the group decided to dedicate a Facebook post to him on Tuesday.
“We are so lucky to have a human like Terry,” the shelter wrote, alongside a few photos of Lauerman napping with cats. “Terry just came along one day and introduced himself. He said he’d like to brush cats. Eventually, it became everyday. He brushes all of the cats, and can tell you about all of their likes and dislikes. He also accidentally falls asleep most days. We don’t mind – Cats need this! Terry is a wonderful volunteer.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the post has received over 1.6 million views on Facebook. It also made its way over to Reddit, where it has received hundreds of comments.
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