Cat Who Accidentally Farted In Public Shunned By Small Town Employers

Sequim, WA

A cat who accidentally farted while shopping at the local Walgreen’s drugstore claims he is being shunned and discriminated against by townsfolk and potential employers because of the incident.

Finn Riley McBagby, is a 4-year-old, neutered, Domestic Long-Hair Ginger, who lives on Hendrickson Road in the small town of Sequim, population 5,700.

He said he accidentally farted “very loudly” while walking down an aisle at Walgreen’s after picking up a prescription and has been treated with dirty looks and rampant discrimination ever since.


The incident happened at the local Walgreen drugstore

“I didn’t mean to fart out loud, or so loud,” Finn told the Gazette. “It was a huge embarrassing mistake. I tried to muffle it, but it just snuck out. I was just as surprised as anyone else that it happened.”

Finn said after the fart became audible, he quickly said “ouch,” and looking down, quickly scuffed his shoe on the linoleum floor as if to suggest the fart was not really a fart, but the result of some other type of happenstance event like tripping or simply dragging his shoes.

“There were lots of people there that day who heard (the fart),” Finn said. “One cat, a real gossip, she heard it and dropped the box of tampons she was holding. She scowled at me and quickly ran out of the store, probably to tell everyone she knew what I’d done.”


Finn says he “regrets” the unfortunate farting incident

Finn, who lost his job at the Pizza Factory in early September, claims to have since applied for more than 30 jobs and registered his resume with countless temporary agencies since the fart incident, and has not received any response.

Finn said he is now convinced that he is being discriminated against for farting so loudly in public and claimed one recruitment agency said it would not be able to find him a job because "their clients wouldn't like it.”

Finn said, "I think employers feel uneasy about taking me on. A lot of people see my face and all they can think of is that one fart. I get funny looks from people everywhere I shop now. It’s like they all know and expect me to do it again.”


Spokescat Barbarella is now dedicated to helping young Finn

A spokescat for the charity ‘Silencing the Stigma,’ which supports cats who have farted in public places, said today, "If employers are unfamiliar with farting in public, they can, on some unconscious level, make an unfair judgement about someone based on their past, unfortunate farts.” The cat, a 12-year-old, spayed Manx named Barbarella, said she would gladly represent Finn and help him find a job within the greater Sequim or Port Angeles area.

Many cats think that public gas/farting discrimination legislation was first introduced in the mid-1990s. However, the fact is that such laws have been in force for more than 60 years to protect their rights and keep them from becoming victims of a society determined to shut them out or humiliate them.

Before 1995, the legislation dealing with the employment of cats who have farted in public consisted of the Fart Act of 1944 and the Accidental Fart Doctrine of 1945. These statutory provisions introduced a quota system whereby employers with 20 or more employees had to ensure that at least 1% of their workforce were registered as having farted in public.

Sharyn Thoma-Guay reporter-at-large
Barbarella Photo: Thanks to Mary Ann Browning