Brewery bobcat helps rescue center

With his side gliding across the bars of his cage and his head rubbing affectionately against his handler’s palm, Rocky the bobcat seemed to be soaking up the attention.
 
Rocky, one of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center’s nearly 200 cats, was one of the centerpieces at Upland Brewing Company’s annual SchwarzTag celebration this weekend. 

The event was meant to commemorate the release of Upland’s seasonal Schwarz beer. The beer, released each year in October, is a German-style black lager with subtle hints of coffee and chocolate. It’s also one of Upland’s most popular beers year-round.

Schwarz, one of Upland’s seasonal beers, will only be sold on-site through early December, when the next seasonal will be released.  

Server and bartender Mike Dawkins said that Upland has been producing Schwarz for the past three to four years, and every year has been an improvement upon the last.
One dollar of every pint of Schwarz sold at the event was donated to the rescue center, along with the money from a collection box set up outside.

The center, which cosponsored the event, is a non-profit organization that provides homes for abandoned or abused felines throughout the country. Located in Cedar Point, Ind., the center is currently home to 196 rescued cats from nine different species, including lions, tigers and, of course, bobcats.

The cats rescued by the center are often taken from private residences unable to properly care for them, breeders looking for personal profit or even circuses where the animals are kept in small cages most of their lives. At the center, they receive suitable homes and medical care. One of the center’s goals is to provide permanent enclosures for its cats, some of which, according to a fact sheet provided by Assistant Director Jean Herrberg, can cost approximately $25,000.

“It’s a place that rescues animals instead of putting them down,” Head Brewer Caleb Staton said. “They pasture them in a place where they can live out their lives.” 

At press time the final number of donations had not been tallied, but Staton said the event raised around $500 last year.

Though not quite as large as a lion or tiger, Rocky was still big enough to require some safety precautions and was kept in a cage outside the patio at Upland that had been blocked off by employees of the center. 

That didn’t stop visitors from stopping by for a peek, though. Both the restaurant and patio were packed full of curious customers.

“We started out really busy and it hasn’t slowed down all day,” said senior Maura Schonwald, a waitress and hostess at Upland. “Everyone’s been running back and forth between their tables and the patio to see the bobcat. They love it!”

The bobcat left Upland after about three hours. Local bands Jascha and The New Old Cavalry then took the stage outside to perform a mix of folk rock and contemporary bluegrass. The reactions to both the beer and the bobcat were favorable.

“My sister is visiting, and I just wanted to bring her to Upland,” IU alumna Mallorie Irvin said. “We ended up catching the tail end of it, but we got to see the bobcat and my niece really liked it a lot!”