44-pound feline Prince Chunk gets new home in New Jersey

BLACKWOOD, N.J. -- New Jersey's fat cat has a home.

A family in southern New Jersey will get the 44-pound "Prince Chunk" this week, according to the Camden County Animal Shelter. The shelter won't disclose the family's identity.

About 500 people applied to adopt the 10-year-old cat found lumbering around the community of Voorhees after his owner lost her home to foreclosure.

Catherine Harr, president of the animal shelter's board, said the cat's new family is a couple with a teenage child. She said the couple was chosen because they have past experience with cats, and their finances are stable.

The adoption comes after a vet gave the cat a clean bill of health -- other than his weight.

Prince Chunk received national attention when he was found, including an appearance on "Live with Regis & Kelly." The attention was so intense that shelter officials last Sunday had to sneak the cat out of a foster home and move him to another foster family, Harr said.

Thousands of people from as far away as London and California called to inquire about adopting the cat, Harr said. Unfortunately, she said no one who contacted the shelter was interested in adopting any of the more than 200 other cats and kittens in the shelter's care.

The shelter had to euthanize about 1,000 unwanted cats last year, about a third of the cats it took in, she said.