Dog owners threatened to shoot a cat who took part in a dog swim in Australia (9 photos)

The owner of a cat participating in the annual dog swim, criticized the "sick inbreds" who threatened to shoot him pet, if he again takes part in the competition.





Renowned political strategist Glenn Druery and his Tonkinese cat Gus took part in the annual Christmas swim three years ago. dogs on the island of Scotland, Australia.

At an annual event, residents of the isolated enclave of Sydney, where about 1000 people live, participate in the swim with their dogs on a 550-meter stretch of water. Visitors are also allowed to participate in competition, and in 2015 Druery won the swim with his dog Bob. However, after Bob's death, the man took part in the competition. 2019 with his feline friend Gus. The audience was delighted with Gus, who overtook several dogs at once.

And although Gus was loved by most of the locals and viewers, Druery told Daily Mail Australia a 'sick' minority met him with hostility, and someone even threatened to shoot Gus.

In this regard, Druery decided to skip the swim this year, adding: “We are now talking about my cat. I'm not going to risk it security because of some drunken hero who doesn't like strangers."



According to the man, thousands of people attended the event in 2019 year, learning that Gus will compete with dogs: “We were greeted with absolute joy. We spent over an hour before and after the race with people who wanted to take a selfie with Gus."

“It was just a wonderful, beautiful event,” continued Druery. “Most people on the island of Scotland are pure joy, and one nice old woman came with a bowl of water and cat food for Gus. She told him, "You will need strength to swim." It was cool, and it clearly drew a crowd."





According to Druery, despite the joy that brings him event, he is wary of a small minority of local residents who oppose the growing popularity of the event.

"It's just such a fun event and it seems to be gathering good crowd. Imagine what we could do. Imagine that Gus would show up at the event and we would raise money for charity. Any charity, for example, for children, cancer patients. Imagine this,” he said. - And it's small. a minority of small-town psychos who, it seems to me, have passed anti-vaccine sovereign citizenship school—you know, All people of this type are the same. It's small but loud, very loud a minority clung to this event, and as a result, Gus."



"Listen, I work in politics and I'm used to crazy people, - Druery continued. — I used to relate emails and messages with threats to the police, and the police then deal with these people. Most of them are paper tigers. Most of them are cowards. But we talking about my cat and I'm not going to risk his safety because of some drunken hero who doesn't like strangers. That is, these people really from another planet, they just don't like being on their outsiders come to the event. They think they are some special, and they are incredibly xenophobic.”

“You know, if I drew a caricature of them, we wouldn’t be able to understand what they're saying because they wouldn't have most of teeth,” concluded Druery.



Druery also revealed that Gus' performance in 2019 brought him international recognition. “That time Gus was on the front pages, on television and radio. In fact, he received international recognition. To a film crew from Japan came to Australia for two days. 10 people filmed for two days how Gus swims, rides a mountain bike, kayak and so on. All this returned to Japan, and we have there there are so many fans now, you just won't believe it."



Photographer Alec Smart started attending the race in 2010 and agreed that 2019 was "unfriendly and angry". He pointed to a small group of locals who "do not like strangers" and growing publicity for this event.

However, Shane O'Neill, who lives on the island and is a member Associations of residentsthe islands of Scotland, told the Sydney Morning Herald that the swim is for dogs.

“This is a dog swim. I understand that it's a little cocky an attempt at a joke... But it doesn't seem to me that people come to see how a cat is swimming. They have been attending the event for many years. It wasn't only in 2019, large crowds have been gathering for a long time.”