J.D. Vance's infamous "childless cat ladies" clip seems to be affecting people's feelings toward owning cats ... based on what animal shelters across the country are seeing.
TMZ did some digging, and animal rescue operations in blue states are reporting a spike in cat adoptions, while shelters in red states are seeing cat adoptions slow to a crawl ... and the places we talk to have a sneaking suspicion Donald Trump's running mate is a driving force here.
AMA Animal Rescue in New York, a solidly blue state, says there's been a surge in cat adoptions in August and September compared to previous months ... which comes in the wake of Vance's "childless cat ladies" clip resurfacing at the end of July and getting a lot of attention.
Down in Georgia, a swing state that went blue in 2020, animal shelters are reporting the same thing ... with two places telling us cat adoptions have picked up steam since Vance's comment went viral.
So, based on what we're hearing ... it seems areas where folks tend to vote Democrat are sticking it to J.D.
The opposite is happening in traditionally red areas ... like Florida, Texas and Vance's home state of Ohio.
In Fort Lauderdale, two animal shelters tell us more cats than ever are being surrendered, and cat adoptions are way down ... and folks who work there believe the trend is politically motivated.
In Ohio, shelters tell us cat adoption rates are collapsing ... and they think Vance's words are carrying major influence.
Arlington Animal Service in Texas tells us people are now calling them up every day trying to surrender cats ... while another shelter in a different part of the state says people are literally dumping cats on their porch overnight, doubling the number of cats up for adoption.
Sounds like Vance struck a nerve here ... for better or for worse ... and the reaction is falling across party lines.