When I think this world can’t get any worse towards cats, I encounter stories like this one.

Abandoned and forgotten cats break my heart, but when I learned that people are still doing animal testing to this day, I broke into tears.

This story begins with such a poor cat. Bagel, a gorgeous tabby cat, was born in an animal testing laboratory in Oklahoma.

This poor soul spent almost five years closed in a cage, while people were doing experiments on him and hundreds of other cats. 

He never knew what it’s like to have a warm and cozy bed, what it’s like to play with toys or feel unconditional love. Little did Bagel know, his luck was about to change…

Beagle Freedom Project is an organization that specializes in saving animals who were a part of experimental research. They decided to buy the lab where Bagel was and turned it into a sanctuary. 

The luck of hundreds of cats changed that day and they were ready to find their forever homes. 

Erin Sharoni from Miami heard about this sanctuary and decided to adopt a cat without a second thought. She recently lost her beloved dog Bodhi and her cat Lentil and she was ready to provide a loving home for a cat in need.

She flew all the way to Oklahoma and once she met Bagel, an instant bond was created. She was the one to name him Bagel, up until then he was only known by a number. As Erin said in her video:

“He had no name in the lab. He was number 698.”

The saddest thing about all these cats was that they were very well-socialized. As Erin said:

“What I learned from the rescuers was cats were very well socialized as kittens by the lab workers specifically. So they would be easier to work with during experiments. They were also food deprived to keep them hungry. A hungry cat is generally a motivated cat.”

Knowing that poor Bagel was hungry in a cage, shattered my heart into pieces. Luckily, Erin was about to change all that. 

The two flew back to Miami, and for the first time in his life Bagel had a safe home, away from toxic chemicals.

At first, he was afraid to leave Erin’s bathroom. He spent a few days hiding away before he finally found the courage to come out and explore. 

Erin lives right next to the beach and Bagel soon figured out what an amazing view he had. He would sit right in front of the window and observe birds and planes flying around! As Erin mentioned:

“Everything was new and interesting and exciting to him.”

His forever mom prepared a basket full of toys for him, but since he never played with toys the poor soul didn’t know what to do. He just sat right into the basket, while all his toys scattered around. 

However, Bagel soon learned how to be a cat. He started playing and gently rubbing against his toys. His favorite pastime was cuddling with Erin.

The poor boy was afraid he might lose his newfound freedom, so he was very clingy. As his mom shared:

“He was very clingy for the first few weeks. Now he’s chilled out a little bit, but he’s still extremely affectionate.”

This story restored my faith in humanity and thanks to Erin, Bagel can live a happy life away from toxic chemicals.

Make sure to follow Bagel’s journey over on Instagram where his mom posts daily updates of his new adventures!