July 15, 2026

The Cats Behind the Stadium

Meet the working cats that help keep stadiums and arenas rodent-free.

Stadiums are great for watching a game, but they also happen to be prime hangout spots for rats. With all the food that gets brought in and plenty of places to hide after the crowds clear out, the area below can become pretty crowded with these pests. Before pest control was just a call away, many stadiums had a simple fix: they brought in cats to help manage the rat population.

The record holder

The most famous stadium mouser was almost certainly Minnie, a female tabby who worked at London's White City Stadium from 1927 to 1933. During six years at the stadium, Guinness World Records credited her with catching 12,480 rats, an astonishing average of almost six every single day.

White City wasn't just any venue. Built for the 1908 Olympic Games, it later hosted football, athletics, boxing, speedway, concerts, greyhound racing, and even matches during the 1966 FIFA World Cup. While all that excitement was happening above, Minnie was down below, doing her job like a pro.

Guinness also remembers another remarkable mouser named Mickey. This Lancashire tabby reportedly caught more than 22,000 mice during 23 years working for a local company, proof that super mousers can pop up anywhere, not just in stadiums.

The underground crews

Many modern sporting venues still have their own resident cat teams.

At the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a group of cats known as "Coli cats" patrol the historic Olympic stadium. These cats are cared for by security staff, who manage feeding stations located around the grounds. Their job hasn't changed much over the years: keeping those pesky rodents away from the concession areas, storage rooms, and tunnels beneath the stands.

At Oakland Coliseum, they've got around 30 to 40 cats on duty to help control the rat situation, which got a little out of hand during the pandemic.

And back in the 90s at the Texas Rangers' old stadium, there was an elderly caretaker named Jeff who spent his time looking after hundreds of cats living under the ballpark, all there to tackle those enormous "Texas-sized" rats inhabiting the dark service corridors below the stands.

Britain's sporting cats

Not every stadium cat became famous for catching rodents.

At Lord's Cricket Ground in London, a tabby named Peter, whom people called the Marylebone Mog, spent more than a decade roaming the field. When he passed away in 1964, he was the only animal ever to get an obituary in the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

Today, Brian, the resident cat at Somerset County Cricket Club, carries on the tradition, patrolling the grounds at his leisure while keeping an eye on the game from whatever sunny spot he finds comfy.

Millie, another beloved cat at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, spent over 15 years greeting everyone and became so popular that visitors often came to see her as much as the stadium itself.

More than mascots

It's easy to confuse stadium cats with mascots, but most were really brought in for practical reasons. Big venues inevitably attract rodents, and before pest control was the norm, cats were just the best solution around.

The same thing happened in post offices, museums, distilleries, and more, where working cats protected supplies and spaces while becoming a part of the place they served.

So while the best stadium cats might not make the highlight reel, they're usually down below, doing exactly what they were brought in to do.

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