Like some furry, bewhiskered wizard, this clever cat has a pretty straightforward way of getting exactly what he wants.
He wields his charms like magic.
Officers from South Carolina's Columbia Police Department discovered the cat after he showed up outside their station one weekend last month. Rather than let his presence be known in a coy sort of manner, as is often the approach among felines, this random kitty went ahead and made himself the undeniable center of attention — by sneaking inside to demand affection.
And who could say no to that?
Despite him being an uninvited visitor, cops at the station quickly fell under the cat's spell.
Before long, he'd even commandeered a lap.
One of the officers, clearly lovestruck by the kitty, demanded a selfie with him.
Meanwhile, yet another cop took a photo of that.
(The cat's plan was obviously working.)
In a moment of clarity, the officers grew to suspect that cat had a family of his own nearby, so they decided it would be best to send him back on his way. But he was having none of it. The next day, the cat was there again — eager to work his charms once more. That's when Officer Brandon Montgomery, arriving to the station after taking the weekend off, first became acquainted with him.
"Whenever an officer would go in or out, he would run back inside real quick," Montgomery told The Dodo. "He wanted to be pet and held. He likes being on shoulders, very much. He’ll climb right up."
In hopes of tracking down the cat's owner, if he had one, the officers posted pictures of him online, but no one came forward to claim him. So, instead of sending the cat to an animal shelter to try his luck at being adopted, Montgomery stepped in to offer him a place in his own home.
Since then, the cat, now named Kingsley, has settled in nicely with the Montgomery family and their other rescued animals.
"I’m a pet lover," Montgomery said. "I consider my pets parts of the family. He’s doing very well."
We can never know for certain if this was all part of Kingsley's grand plan when he showed up outside the police station to begin with — but Montgomery is the first to admit that, had it been, he pulled it off flawlessly.
"It worked out for him," he said. "It definitely worked out."