Photo courtesy of St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach

The saga of Rally Cat continues. You probably remember the cat in question; having taken a leisurely stroll through the outfield and then attacked the stadium employee who retrieved it in center.

Then, faced with the prospect of serving the St. Louis Cardinals organization in perpetuity, the cat escaped, and ended up in the custody of rescue organization St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach. The endgame seemed obvious; the team would eventually take custody of the cat, trotting it out for various functions, perhaps taking some video to throw up on the board if there was a rally late. A combination of the Angels usage of the Rally Monkey and the Brewers custody of Hank, the adorable dog.

Of course, cats aren’t dogs, and the monkey isn’t actually at the stadium, to my knowledge. (Though on a recent visit to Angel Stadium I was very impressed with how they used the Rally Monkey before the ninth when runners were on in a tight game. If managers ever used their best relievers the way the Angel Stadium folks use the Rally Monkey, the game would be better for it.) The SLFCO isn’t convinced the rally cat would most benefit from being turned over to a baseball team, and they also weren’t pleased when a Cardinals executive allegedly yelled at one of their reps on the phone.

The way you can tell they weren’t pleased is that they hired a lawyer, always a last resort. Via Big League Stew:

The St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach (SLFCO) has hired lawyer Albert Watkins to represent everyone’s favorite baseball feline, according to Riverfront Times. The two sides are now engaged in an all-out custody battle, and it’s not going to end well for the Cardinals if Watkins gets his way.

“While [Rally Cat] will always be a Redbirds fan, he has to think about his future as well,” Watkins says. “His working days in the playing fields of Busch Stadium appear to be over. … Much like any custody battle for children the world over, what’s important here is what’s in the best interests of the health and welfare of the cat.”

The Cardinals have expressed a desire to adopt the cat, but it no longer looks like that’s going to happen based on Watkins’ remarks.

Maybe the Cardinals don’t qualify for adoption from reputable pet shelters? After all, they have been convicted of a felony.

[Big League Stew]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.