Officials at an animal shelter in Maryland are confident that one of their residents will be adopted soon into a loving home after a Facebook post about his plight went viral overnight.
Mr. O, a white-and-orange cat, age 2, was surrendered recently at St. Mary's Animal Adoption & Resource Center in California, Maryland, after his original family moved and could not take him with them.
Mr. O is "very sweet" and "loves chin scratches, sitting with his people while they drink their morning coffee, and bird-watching from a window," said Darcy Scott, an animal health care attendant at the shelter.
But his personality isn't why he's garnered so much internet attention.
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He went viral because he is very, very sad.
"PET OF THE WEEK: Warning: Tearjerker," wrote the St. Mary's Animal Adoption & Resource Center in a post on Friday, March 29, on Facebook.
In the post, the St. Mary's Animal Adoption & Resource Center detailed Mr. O's back story, noting that he had "not handled the transition from home to shelter well at all."
The shelter wrote, "He is DEEPLY depressed."
Mr. O, the shelter said, "cries very loudly or tries to hide in a corner," and the workers at the shelter were concerned that he would not be able to handle this level of stress for a long time.
"It will take some time for him to adjust to a new life, and he is looking for someone to give him the patience he needs to make that transition," the organization said, asking anyone who was interested in adopting Mr. O to come by the shelter.
The shelter noted that his initial reaction to a stranger may be tough — and that "it may take him several months or more to adjust to his new life, so do not expect an overnight best friend."
Mr. O, said the shelter, is litter box-trained and gets along fine with both dogs and children.
The post immediately took off. It was shared more than 2,500 times in less than a day, with people begging someone to please adopt Mr. O.
Due to the viral post, officials at the shelter told Fox News Digital that they believed Mr. O would be adopted soon. At least one person has already pledged to pay the adoption fees for the cat, and several people replied to the post offering to adopt Mr. O.
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"So many animals need good homes. It’s always exciting to get the community so involved. We are completely humbled," the shelter told Fox News Digital.
The St. Mary's Animal Adoption & Resource Center opened about two years ago.
Its mission is "to protect, advocate for, and provide compassionate care to companion animals in need."
"We enrich the lives of families and the community through adoption services, education, connection to resources, and prevention of cruelty," the shelter told Fox News Digital.
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Shelter officials also hope that Mr. O's viral popularity will result in some of the other cats and dogs at the shelter finding forever homes as well.
"We have a shelter full of cats that need homes as well," the officials posted on Facebook on Saturday. "Please be sure to check them out."
The shelter is closed on Mondays and Thursdays. It's open from 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and noon to 4 p.m. on weekends.
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