Animal Care & Control of NYCIf you're in the market for a celebrity pet, you better act fast.
The subway kittens, two felines who shut down New York City's subway system for two hours, are officially old enough to be adopted (via WNYC). And Animal Care & Control, which is currently sheltering the kitties, says they're "arguably the most famous kittens in New York City history."
Famous, perhaps. Infamous? Yes.
One August morning at 11 a.m., the kittens' owner reported to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials that they had gone missing. A supervisor then "requested power be removed from the rails," The NY Times reported, delaying hundreds of passengers.
"These subway kittens paralyzed subway service in Brooklyn," Stephen Colbert ranted on The Colbert Report at the time. "It was chaos! Hundreds of Brooklynites were stuck on the platform with nothing to Instagram."
MTA initially told impatient riders that the train service had been halted due to an "ongoing N.Y.P.D. activity," but a police spokesperson later said, "We don't shut down trains searching for cats."
Full train service resumed two hours later, with the kittens still unfound and a warning by MTA to drivers "to proceed with caution in the area where the cats were last seen." At 6:30 p.m., the kittens were rescued from the tracks nearby with the help of N.Y.P.D.
"These two troublemakers, named August and Arthur, caused a major transportation delay in the largest city in the country, making them bad, bad kitties," Colbert teased.
And that's why they've been dubbed "the most famous kittens in New York City History." Animal Care & Control also says they're "playful and sweet kittens" but admits their "trouble-making days aren't entirely behind them (though the trouble they're up to now is on a much smaller scale than the kind that made headlines)."
If you're interested in adopting, contact N.Y.'s Animal Care & Control at adoption@nycacc.org. But you better act fast: AC & C reports that nearly 40 people have already inquired about the duo.
And if the subway kittens have already been adopted, remember there are plenty of other pets in shelters looking for forever homes. And these days, you can make any pet a celebrity with just a few Instagrams. Welcome to the 21st century, people.