SUNDERLAND – The winner has been chosen and she’s purr-fect.
Sophie-Jane, a 6-year-old barn cat at Thomas Dairy Farm in Sunderland, has been named the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation’s Barn Cat of the Year.
“We were cracking up when we found out we won,” said Sophie-Jane’s owner, Laurie Cuevas. “It’s one of the more unusual awards.”
Sophie-Jane lives in Thomas Farm’s warm room where the farm’s baby goats are raised. When she isn’t curled up, watching over the baby goats, Sophie-Jane is out amongst the farm animals and tracking down mice and birds in the barn.
“She’s a murderer,” Cuevas joked. “She’s always somewhere around us when we’re working.”
The Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation’s contest was sponsored by The Pet Food Institute, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring pet food is both safe and nutritious. Cuevas and the owners of other cats recognized by the Farm Bureau Federation received a basket of pet-themed items.
Cuevas said they entered the contest on a whim and described how Sophie-Jane came to be such a fixture in their barn in the nomination letter.
“I was like, ‘Oh what the heck, I’ll put her in,’” Cuevas said.
A panel of farmers, with experience with barn cats, reviewed 20 nominations, which featured written responses and photos that showcased each cat’s dedication to farm life.
Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation Promotion and Education Chair Meg Gennings said Sophie-Jane fits the bill of a great barn cat.
“Sophie-Jane exhibited the qualities of an excellent barn cat,” Gennings said in a statement. “Not only does she keep rodents and birds out of the barn at Thomas Farm and Dairy, but she also is extremely affectionate and an excellent napper.”
Cuevas and her husband, Jim Thomas, got Sophie-Jane through the Dakin Humane Society’s barn cat program for cats that are too feisty to live in a traditional home. Cuevas noted that Sophie-Jane had lashed out at a child and a Chihuahua and a barn setting would work better for her.
“I was expecting some feral, scary cat … then I see her, she was like five pounds.” Cuevas said. “I can’t say enough good things about Dakin.”
Even at her diminutive size, Cuevas said Sophie-Jane “eats like a horse.”
Dakin Human Society Director of Development and Marketing Stacey Price thanked Cuevas and Thomas in a statement for giving a cat like Sophie-Jane a second chance at life.
“We are incredibly thankful to those who open up their barns to cats like Sophie-Jane.” Price said in the statement. “They are truly doing lifesaving work by making this choice. Cats like Sophie-Jane are used to being outside, some may not even like people and prefer the company of other cats making it difficult for animal shelters to sometimes find living quarters for them.”
She said the name Sophie-Jane came from one of her kids in Sunderland’s 4-H Club and it was also her grandmother’s name.
Despite her aggressive past, Sophie-Jane has calmed down and developed a strong bond with Cuevas.
“She’s just this quiet little presence,” she said. “I’ve never had a cat that loves me like this … whenever Jim is looking for me he looks for the cat.”
Cuevas said Sophie-Jane does her job well and she is so glad to have her be a part of their farm.
“She is a great addition here,” she said. “She is a good kitty.”
A second Franklin County barn cat was also recognized by the Farm Bureau Association as the “chonkest” cat of the year. For those not caught up with the younger generation’s slang, “chonk” is used to describe an animal that is overweight or extremely large.
Alfalfa, the 8-year-old short-haired tabby owned by Karen Herzig at Coombs Hill Farm in Colrain, was recognized for his size.
“He’s well fed,” Herzig said in a phone interview. “I thought he’d get the laziest award because he’s always sleeping.”
Alfalfa weighs somewhere around 15 to 20 pounds and loves to hang around the other animals in the barn, according to his owner.
“He loves to sit in the manger with the cows,” Herzig said. “He’s quite the lazy cat for a barn cat.”
Alfalfa and his much-smaller sister, Darla, live in the bar and help manage the rodent population for the farm.
“He’s a big boy, but his sister’s a tiny, little thing,” she said. “They’re our babies but they live in the barn.”
Herzig said they heard about the contest through a Farm Bureau Federation email and decided it’d be fun to enter it.
“I said, ‘We’ll give it a whirl,’” Herzig said. “I’m always taking pictures of him and the cows and I did a little bio on him.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.