An awfully grey Valentine’s Day

By Ashley Ann Mentley

Windsorites were given new choices this Valentine’s Day: the release of a sexy movie or a sale on adorable cats.

On Feb. 14, the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society hosted an adoption event called “50 Shades of Grey…Cats” as a nod to the anticipated release of the Fifty Shades of Grey movie on Feb. 13.  Grey cats were offered at a discounted adoption rate for the day.

The movie, based on the popular book series by E.L. James, is known for its erotic romanticism.  The series is made up of three books and has sold over 100 million copies worldwide.

“Of course, Fifty Shades of Grey is for adults only, so this promo applies to adult cats only,” read Humane Society’s Facebook post.

The executive director of the Humane Society said this is not the first promotion they have tied to current events.

“We’ll be shameless, trying to use anything we can to draw attention to adopting animals who are looking for homes,” said Melanie Coulter.  “Whether it’s a holiday, the royal baby, the Olympics, we’ve done all kinds of promotions playing off whatever’s going on.”

Coulter said they had about 15 grey cats on Saturday morning and she hoped to see them all adopted out.

Mackenzie Fleming is a Grade 12 student at Tecumseh Vista Academy.  After finding out her brother is no longer allergic to cats, her family decided to start looking to adopt one.

“My mom really likes grey cats,” Fleming said.  “We heard about this event so we decided to come out to see what they had. I’m not sure if we’ll end up getting a grey one or a different colour.”

Though Fleming’s mom and friends are fans of the Fifty Shades series, she said the movie didn’t interest her.

“I think it’s good that they can make a good event out of it though,” she said.

Humane Society volunteer Kimberley Krestick agreed and said she enjoys seeing them host an event that ties in with current events, but she won’t be seeing the movie either.

“It’s great because it brings people in,” said Krestick, who volunteers at least two days a week. “There are certain times when we have excess numbers of a certain colour or breed of cats so we’ll do a promotion.”

Coulter said since dogs are easier to adopt out, their promotions generally focus on cats.  The normal adoption fee for an adult cat is $125 plus a $30 administration fee.  On Saturday this was lowered to a total of $50 for the promotion.

The movie brought in $258 million at the box office over the weekend making it the highest grossing R-rated February release ever, but the reviews were not so favourable.  Film critic Roger Ebert gave it 2 out of five stars and Lisa Wilkinson, an Australian TV host said, “50 Shades of Grey is, quite simply, the worst movie I’ve ever seen.”

At the humane society, however, the promotion was a success on all levels.  Coulter said they adopted out seven grey cats, plus 10 others and three dogs, which she considers great results in spite of the record-breaking cold weather.