Jessica Burger
Special to Mustang News
Cats took the big screen inside the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center (PAC) Tuesday night with the Internet Cat Video Festival. Laughter filled the room for the night, and the PAC sold more than 400 tickets for the event, with proceeds benefiting the Cal Poly Cat Program.
“I’m really just a cat lady trapped in a man’s body,” host Will Braden said. “It’s much more of a direct benefit, and it’s really special to see exactly where the help is going.”
Braden said the program has notoriety among other animal shelters and humane societies in the area, which were also there.
Cal Poly Cat Program Treasurer Sharon Dobson donned a full face of tiger makeup and pair of leopard print cat ears at the event.
“A lot of people don’t even know what the Cal Poly Cat Program is,” Dobson said.
Dobson said the cats provide a lot of undervalued service for Cal Poly students who volunteer in the program, which is 100 percent volunteer and donation based. She said they even bring the cats into the atrium of the library during finals week to help students relax and take a break.
“You see, it really helps to reduce their anxiety level,” Dobson said, adding that she routinely gets calls from the staff at Poly Canyon Village every year with requests to bring a few cats to visit students during high-stress periods.
The festival was composed of a 75-minute reel, with categories divided up into comedy, drama, documentary, foreign language and, of course, hall of fame.