Hospital “Hires” Cat as Security Guard and Even Gives Him a Staff ID Badge

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A hospital in Australia has made headlines after hiring a new security guard. The reason this appointment has received so much attention is that the guard is actually a cat who even has his own ID badge. A cat as a work colleague may not seem like something that would happen in real life, but we now know that there is at least one occasion of it happening somewhere in the world. Elwood the cat spends a lot of time during the day patrolling around the grounds of Epworth Hospital in Richmond, Australia. He gets a lot of attention from staff and patients, but has formed a particularly close bond with pathologist Chantel Trollip. He always seems to make an appearance when she is arriving for her shift. She spent lot of time at the hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic when she and the rest of her colleagues were picking up extra shifts to deal with the additional patients that were admitted. Seeing Elwood always made her feel better when things were getting her down. She has always been a cat lover but there is something about Elwood which is extra special.

Elwood has been hanging around the hospital for a year or so now. The Dodo reports that he is usually spotted at least once a day. Even if Trollip does not see him herself while she is at work, she will usually hear from one of her colleagues that he has been spotted. Staff now just take it for granted that they will see him each day when they show up for their shifts. Regular patients also wonder where he is if they do not see him when they are attending their appointments. When Trollip arrived for work one day recently she saw Elwood with something around his neck. On closer inspection she saw that it was an ID badge that all staff have to wear when they are on duty. She asked around to try and find out who had made the badge, but it still remains a mystery. She believes that it must be someone associated with the hospital, because all the details on the staff badges are present on the badge that has been made for Elwood.

Most of her colleagues agree that Elwood is now considered to be part of the team as he spends so much time at the hospital. The person that made his badge must have agreed with this sentiment and decided to make things official. He has been patrolling the outside of the hospital for a year and doing such a good job of it, that security guard seemed the perfect role for him. Staff and patients at the hospital agree that Elwood is probably uses his cuteness to his advantage in his security role. Trollip has joked that anyone would bad intentions would soon change their minds when they see him wandering around the hospital doing his job, and looking so adorable with his badge while he does it. He is a friendly cat and will stop if anyone tries to pet him. However, this is done on his terms and he is not afraid to let people know when he has had enough by just walking off. This helps to cement his reputation as a guard that will be friendly but is not afraid to act tough when needed.

His routine now that he is in official employment has not altered too much from what he used to do before. He will hang around the front entrance making sure that he gets some fuss from passers by. He must also be making sure that nobody is causing any trouble. He also likes to lay down next to the bushes by the entrance. This gives him the perfect viewpoint to make sure that nothing untoward is going on. Trollip told Bored Panda that Elwood never makes any attempt to enter the hospital building. This may be because he is not big enough to activate the automatic doors. He also likes to spend a lot of time lying down in the sun. However, the staff like to believe that the reason he stays outside is that this is where his work takes place.

For a long time, it was believed that Elwood was a stray. He always appeared to be well-fed, but he would turn up at the hospital every day as if he had nowhere else to go. He also had a collar with this name on, which is how everyone knows what to call him. However, it has since been discovered that his owner lives in a house just over the road from the hospital. This means that at least Elwood does not have a long commute to get to work According to Metro, the hospital have released a statement about Elwood due to all the attention he has been getting. They say that they are happy to have him on board to greet visitors to the hospital and keep guard. The job will continue to be his for as long as he wants it.

Trollip shared some photos of Elwood on her Facebook page, and these have attracted a lot of likes and comments from people all over the world. Everyone loves the fact that Elwood is so well loved by the hospital staff that someone decided to make him his own badge, really showing that he is part of the team. People have even turned up at the hospital hoping to get their own photos of Elwood hard at work. Elwood turns up for his job every day and offers a friendly greeting to all staff and visitors. He patrols around the exterior of the hospital before stopping to take a break and lounge in the sun. At the end of the day he returns home to get plenty of rest before his next shift the following day. He has earned his place as one of the most valued members of staff at the hospital.