UNITED KINGDOM – Chester’s most beloved cat Brutus was remembered and celebrated on Sunday (September 10) at the unveiling of his special memorial statue.
Literally dozens of people turned out to Morrison’s in Saltney to see TV personality and comedian Ted Robbins reveal the permanent bronze tribute which will proudly stand pride of place in the supermarket which was the much-missed tabby’s second home.
The statue has been worked on painstakingly for many months by Mr Robbins’ sister Jane, who is a sculptor who was tasked with making it after money was raised through a public crowdfunding appeal after Brutus died of kidney disease in January.
Brutus had a humongous fan following, touching the hearts of many shoppers who would regularly see him at Morrison’s across the road from his home.
Ted Robbins with the statue of Brutus (Image: Sarah Mayers)
This cat would spend literally hours lounging on shopping carts or stretching out in the foyer, lapping up attention from customers, and his owner Claire Owens explained that she still gets people thanking her for the joy he brought to so many.
“We were all very taken aback by the number of people who attended the unveiling. It was incredible to see so many who made the effort to come out to see it – I was a little overwhelmed!
“I obviously had no control over what our beloved cat got up to but nevertheless people were telling me stories and thanking me for just having such a wonderful cat who made so many people happy.”
Brutus’ owner Claire Owens (Image: Sarah Mayers)
She went on to say: “The least we could do was to have this memorial of him created. I’m so pleased with how the statue looks and Jane has done an amazing job, I know how hard she worked on this to make sure it was as close to looking like him as possible having never met him personally.
“The statue will never replace the real thing, and can’t portray his cheeky personality that we all so miss, but it’s here to help people to remember him and his personality, and bring back their own images of him in their minds.”
Claire also gave special thanks to Morrison’s, who commemorated the entire special day with a special giant cookie dedicated to Brutus, Jane for working on the sculpture and Ted Robbins for giving up his time for the event.
Morrisons baked a cookie to mark Brutus the Morrisons cat’s statue unveiling (Image: Sarah Mayers)
“I also want to thank David Sadler who very kindly paid for a bronze plaque to go on to the wall beside the statue to tell Brutus’ story,” Claire went on to add.
“This will be hopefully be completed and installed in a week or so. Finally, thank you to everyone who donated and made this possible! It also meant that I was able to present two local charities Chester Kitty Cat Rescue and Ark Angels with cheques for £600 each from the remaining money raised.”
*£600 equals $790USD
Source: www.chesterchronicle.co.uk
