Contrarian Pets of the Week

Meet Riff and Perchik!

We told you we wanted to have fun, and we take fun seriously at The Contrarian. Each week we will share The Contrarian pet(s) of the week. (The pet need not be contrarian.) Subscribers are invited to submit their furry friend!

Names: Riff and Perchik—both named for sidekicks/instigators in Broadway musicals (West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof)

Ages: 10 weeks old

Breed: Bodega baby brothers with a Disney-esque backstory! The owner of the store was going to keep the whole litter, which was born to a NYC mouser. One day a woman came in with a pit bull who got scratched by the mama cat. The dog owner pulled a Cruella de Vil and demanded all the kittens or threatened to sue. Big Apple Cats whisked them away to safety—and, lucky us, we adopted two of them!

Hobbies: This duo is fully bonded and constantly getting into mischief. They wrestle and chase and run and jump and collide and stalk and flop. Toys and trash are one and the same to them; we stocked up on shiny objects, but a hair tie keeps them occupied for hours. They’re trusting and lovable and pretty much perfection.

Worst/Best Moment: They are both plagued with serious FOMO—no matter what one is doing, the other is there in a flash, ready to join in or crash the party. Thankfully, that applies to sleep as well; as soon as Riff’s eyelids get heavy, Perchik will be curled up next to him, ready to snooze.

Contrarian readers might remember our beloved Rocky (a.k.a. Barack The Vote) who passed away earlier this Fall. These two boys have very big shoes to fill! But they are keeping us on our toes and doubled over with laughter—much-needed medicine as we fight the good fights for democracy.

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.

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