It was an un-fur-gettable occasion.
Deborah Hodge recently married her cat, India, in a loophole scheme to avoid rental restrictions, which have barred Hodge from bringing animals into the unit.
Fed up, the 49-year-old woman from London devised a plan to marry her cat after already having rehomed three previous pets due to landlords who rejected pet owners from their properties. The single mom of two (humans) now hopes her show of commitment will prove to property owners that India is more than just an animal.
“She is fundamentally the most important thing in my life after my children,” she told South West News Service.
“By marrying India, I need any future landlords to know that we come as a package and we cannot be separated under any circumstances as she is as important to me as the children,” the cat-wife explained.
The pair both wore tuxedo-style outfits — because India, a tuxedo cat, already had one — for the intimate ceremony held on April 19 in a park in southeast London. The 5-year-old cat was draped in gold lamé and meowed through the vows as Hodge’s friends watched on, including one who legally ordained the civil union.
“I had nothing to lose and everything to gain so I married my cat!” Hodge said. “I recited vows under the universe that no man will ever tear myself and India apart.”
“I refuse to be parted with her. I’d rather live on the streets than be without her,” she added.
In a previous rental, Hodge was forced two give up two huskies, Siri and Starshine, when a landlord threatened eviction. Five years ago, she moved into her current unit, where they also tuned away Hodge’s former feline friend, Jamal.
“It absolutely broke my heart,” she said of the separations. “Your pets become part of your family and it was just absolutely devastating having to say goodbye to them.”
Hodge later pleaded with her landlord to allow her to adopt another cat, to which they relented in 2017. That’s when India came into her life.
In 2020, the cat tragically lost a leg after being struck by a car and now relies on Hodge even more.
But the pair are facing eviction once again, as Hodge struggles to make rent since unexpectedly losing her job on March 17.
“I’m on my last pennies,” she said. “I’m terrified of losing India. I can barely leave my house with anxiety over what the future holds and I’m just desperate not to lose my cat.”
Anticipating yet another move, the pair preemptively wed in a bid to stay together regardless of new lease conditions.
“I do not want to lose another beloved pet. I vowed in sickness and in health, in death do us part, and I meant it,” she said.
Hodge has said that many of her two-legged loved ones think she’s “bonkers,” but felt it was the only way to show she’s “very serious” about keeping India. And neither did her children react warmly to the idea that their mom was marrying a cat. “They just think that Mummy has lost the plot!”
Come what may, Hodge refuses to let go of the one thing she believes in: love. “I don’t believe in organized religion; however, I do have faith,” she claimed. “India always came back, even after losing a leg. I am her universe and that is why I married her.”
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