Shoppers threaten boycott after ‘Tesco cat’ is banned from store
Shoppers are threatening to boycott a Tesco store after a cat that has become a favourite with customers has been banned.
Pet lovers in Hornsea, north Yorkshire, are outraged and threatening to not come back to the shop after Lincoln – who has been lounging in the store for three years – won’t be allowed back.
Due to ‘health and safety’ reasons, Tesco said it will now ‘gently encourage’ local celebrity Lincoln to leave the store foyer, where he often sits on bags of compost to greet customers.
One passionate fan of Lincoln told the BBC: ‘This will be my last visit to Tesco if Lincoln isn’t reinstated.
‘They won’t be getting another penny out of me. He just brightens your day when you see him. He’s just so lovely, so affectionate.’
Lincoln’s owner Lorraine Clarke said: ‘We get people messaging us saying they might be anxious when they go outdoors, or they find shopping anxious and seeing Lincoln helps with things like that.
‘It’s like he seems to know he’s making people feel happy or it cheers people up.’
Even as shoppers flock to pet Lincoln’s orange and white head as they pass by, store heads have banned the beloved pet.
Tesco said in a statement: ‘For health and safety reasons, if he makes his way inside our colleagues will gently encourage him out again.’
Clarke said she would try to keep her pet away from the shop but may struggle to keep Lincoln away from his favourite place.
She added: ‘I can’t say to Lincoln, ‘I’m sorry son you’re not allowed to Tesco today’, he will go wherever he wants to go. If he’s sat in there, he’s not doing anyone any harm.’
Another Tesco cat was banned after members of staff called him a ‘hindrance and a pain’ – but Pumpkin the cat defied the ban and returned to his local shop in Norwich.
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