Barney, the nine-year-old kitty, spent his entire life, until recently, at the Emmet County Animal Shelter. (ECAS) But then suddenly, Barney became a media sensation, appearing in local and national news. Overnight, Barney got the spotlight he needed, changing lives and bringing attention to the Estherville, Iowa, shelter where many other pets need homes.

“Sweet, gentle Barney has been looking for a forever home since he came to us as a baby. Born of a feral mother that was caught in a trap, Barney and his siblings were given the chance to become house cats. Although things are fun here at the shelter, Barney would still love to have the chance to live out the life he was saved to have and find himself in a loving forever home where he can have a family to call his own!,” ECAS shared in 2018.

 

It wasn’t until the summer of 2023 that Barney’s luck changed because of the adorable picture below, shared on Reddit.

“Meet Barney; he’s been at his shelter since he was born. He’s 9 years old and the happiest-looking cat you’ll see today,” the Reddit post caption stated.

 

The smiling Barney was upvoted over 53K times. Although this cat lived in the shelter since birth in 2014, people all over the world wanted to adopt him after hearing about his story and seeing just one smiling picture. 

Few could understand how he could have been overlooked for nine years, but as Kristy Henning, the director of ECAS, told PEOPLE, “Wonderful cats being overlooked by potential adopters [are] unfortunately common, especially in Midwest shelters, where there are “way more cats looking for homes than homes looking for cats.”