THE BREWERY CAT
Luther recently retired as chief mouser at a brewery — but being a working cat gave him a better life than ever looked possible.
Being a working cat in a brewery gave Luther a better life than ever looked possible.
Breweries are notoriously targeted by pesky rodents trying to eat the precious grains used to make beers, so naturally, the best way to keep them at bay is to employ one of nature’s best pest controllers!
Located in Dyer, Indiana, in the
USA, Windmill Brewing employed the services of a popular mouser who has ingrained himself into their hearts and business so much, you can even spot the cat on the labels of their beer bottles.
Owners Justin Verburg and Scott Vander Griend founded the business in September 2015, and the pair decided to try a more humane type of pest control to keep mice and rats away.
A NEW EMPLOYEE
The pair were inspired to bring a cat into their premises after reading about the benefits of semi-feral and shy cats going to ‘work’, who would otherwise struggle in a home environment due to their anti-social natures.
“Luther came to us as a result of us looking for a more natural pest control method than standard traps and poisons, as well as us wanting to honour the long history of the symbiotic relationship between breweries and cats,” said Justin.
“We reached out to a local cat rescue that typically only deals with cat adoptions for people’s homes, and they were initially hesitant due to it being a commercial environment.
“We’d seen some evidence in the local newspaper about a ‘Cats with Jobs’ programme where cats that were previously unadoptable due to their personalities becoming extremely personable after being put to work as mousers in businesses.
“After presenting that to them, they agreed and Luther started his career as our in-house pest control.”
Estimated to be one year old,
Luther moved into Scott and Justin’s Windmill Brewing in December 2016 and was named after the 16th century Protestant theologian Martin Luther.
Not much is known about Luther’s history, other than he was taken in as a stray by the shelter and he had previously been kept by a cat hoarder. He was chosen as the right candidate for the brewery after an assessment of his personality and mousing skills, which made him ideal for their environment.
The newly-employed mouser turned out to be excellent at his job, as the rodent population in the brewery decreased dramatically almost instantly, and he seemed to thrive in his new role.
EXPANDING THE JOB DESCRIPTION
Naturally for a curious cat, Luther soon started to summon the courage to find entertainment elsewhere in his new home, though he was still nervous around humans.
Justin said: “Our tap room is connected to our brewery and the door is often open between the two, so he started wandering in there from time to time, though he did not initially take to being around people much.
“Over time, and maybe with a few treats, he started to hang around customers more and became quite friendly with our staff. Eventually, he started spending most of his time in the tap room, instead of policing the brewery, and began to enjoy hanging out around customers and staff.”
Luther became so popular that Justin and Scott began featuring him on their social media posts and he was a hit with the brewery’s online followers.The famous feline even spawned his very own line of beers after Justin and Scott snuck him on to a few of the labels on their bottles. They then introduced a whole series of lagers featuring Luther sporting various forms of historical military garb.
Even non cat-lovers aren’t immune to Luther’s charms, as Scott said that he’ll end up winning them over with some persistence, much to the annoyance of those who actively seek his affections.
“Luther has an uncanny ability to find the person in the tap room who least likes cats and attempts to snuggle up in their lap; usually he wins and they end up petting him, and ordering an extra beer or two for fear of disturbing his sleep.
“He greatly enjoys ignoring people who want him to come sit by them and prefers sleeping on lumpy backpacks and purses to any form of a cat bed that we purchase him.”
‘QUIET’ RETIREMENT
Over time, Luther decided that five years in his dual role as chief mouser and front of house greeter in the brewery was quite enough, and that his talents were better suited to just greeting customers.
So in March this year, he retired from his mousing duties and has set up a permanent home with Justin and Scott. “He definitely decided he preferred the tap room to mousing, probably about a year after we got him. He’ll definitely continue to stay in the tap room — that’s his home now and we have many customers who come in just to visit him,” Justin said. “His ‘job’ now is hanging out in the tap room and visiting people, and he does an amazing job.”
Luther became
so popular...