Former stray cat becomes star employee at Hualien Bus Station

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) An orange tabby believed to have raided a display of fish treats at Hualien Bus Station has gone from stray kitten to local celebrity, "working" four half-day shifts a week greeting passengers and helping promote animal welfare.

Egg Tart's story began one night in June 2025, when station employees repeatedly heard faint meowing but could not locate its source, station master Anderson Chen (陳安德) told CNA in a recent phone interview.

The following morning, staff discovered that four packets of fish treats displayed for sale at the station counter had been torn open, with one completely emptied, Chen said.

A search of the station led them to a kitten, then about six weeks old, hiding behind a row of lockers. Staff believed he had become separated from his mother.

Rather than chase him away, employees voted to adopt him, with Chen becoming his registered owner.

Egg Tart was later named the station's honorary "station cat." He now spends his shifts at a designated spot, greeting travelers and keeping staff company.

He attracted wider attention after a video posted on the station's Facebook page in late June showed him meowing behind the counter as though serving customers.

The video had received more than 220,000 views as of this week, with some social media users saying they planned to visit Hualien specifically to meet him.

Egg Tart works four half-day shifts a week, either from 8 a.m. to noon or from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Chen said. His monthly schedule is posted on the station's Facebook page.

Chen said he hoped Egg Tart would help establish the station as a pet-friendly station in eastern Taiwan and encourage greater compassion for stray animals.

Visitors are asked not to use flash photography, feed Egg Tart or disturb him while he is resting.

Egg Tart is not Taiwan's only former stray to find a home on the public transportation network.

Mikan became the feline station master at Kaohsiung Metro's Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in 2020, while Houtong Station in New Taipei serves as the gateway to Houtong Cat Village, a former coal-mining community famous for its resident cats.