Showing posts with label burglary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burglary. Show all posts

Sunday, 22 September 2024

CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three cats accompanied by four children!

This story comes from Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK. It's rather sad because a mother who needs to be identified by the police burgled a home and stole three cats from that home while being accompanied by four children.

It appears, and this is the allegation, that she took her four children into this home and allowed them to watch her theft of three cats. That, I think you would agree, is highly irresponsible for the fact that it's a crime and that it might teach children about criminal behaviour.

The police have issued the CCTV photograph that you see on this page and ask people to notify them if they recognise the woman.

CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three kittens accompanied by four children!
CCTV image: Source: local police force.

CCTV pictures of a woman who burgled a house and stole three kittens accompanied by four children!
CCTV image: Source: local police force.

The story is that she and her children left in a vehicle down Lowergate in the direction of Highfield Road, Clitheroe, UK, at around 1 PM on Tuesday, September 3. They burgled a home on Moor Lane.

The strange and probably remarkable fact about the story is that the mother took her four children along with her when she burgled the home. We don't know more but the pictures are good enough to identify her.

Another strange aspect of the stories that the police historically have showed a complete disinterest in investigating burglaries in the UK. This has been the status quo for very many years, which is why there are more burglars than the should be in the country. Although burglary is less profitable to criminals than online fraud.

In this story we have to think about the cats as well and the owner of the cats. These cats have been taken from their home range, their home, and they will be disturbed and frightened. And of course the owner will be distraught if he or she is any good at their job of domestic cat caregiving.

There is a very strong emotional distress element to cat and dog theft by which I mean the caregiver can suffer tremendously for a very long time. This makes the theft of a sentient being more important to police than an inanimate object, I would argue.

In the UK, the theft of domestic animals has increased. It's quite a profitable form of criminality. Sometimes animals are stolen to breed which of course depends upon whether they can breed i.e. whether they be neutered or not.

I suspect that this woman has in mind breeding cats to make some money. She might have known that the cats had not been spayed or neutered. You see a lot of kittens for sale on social media from unscrupulous sellers. Sometimes the prices are inordinately high for non-purebred cats.

It depends on the appearance. If the kittens look great then people are more prepared to pay good money for them even if they are not purebred. Humans are very much focused on appearance. And sometimes unscrupulous people sell random bread cats as purebred cats.

That said, it's entirely possible that the three stolen cats are in fact purebred. I made the presumption that they weren't but I could be wrong.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Burglars released rescue cats from their cages but stole nothing

There are two different stories, which I think intersect, in the news media today. The Times reports that the UK police have given up punishing shoplifters. Some time ago the police in the UK said that they would not attend shoplifting to the value of £200. 

Minor crime allowed to flourish in the UK because the police have abdicated their responsibilities


And, in my view, since then they've loosened that requirement even further so nowadays as far as I can tell the police don't attend even mass shoplifting by organised gangs at supermarkets. 

It's become a free for all. The old adage that if you allow minor crime to flourish you lead the way to extreme crime applies in this instance. This should be zero tolerance. As soon as the police advertise to the world that they are ignoring all forms of shoplifting they are opening the door to crimes of other types including more serious crime.

The Times reports that: "Police officers have almost entirely ceased pursuing shoplifters despite the number of offences soaring to record levels, analysis of official figures reveals."

Tell me something new! We've known about this for years and years. There has been a gradual learning process by criminals that they are perfectly safe to walk into a supermarket and take items off the shelves as they wish and then walk out of the premises. 

We've seen gangs of people stripping the shelves of steaks and salmon and walking out of the supermarket in complete impunity to prosecution. It is very shocking indeed. 


Burglars released rescue cats from their cages
One of the missing cats. A tuxedo (black-and-white). Photo by Judy Knowles.


Burglary at cat rescue centre?


And that background is important because today, the BBC reports that animal rescue staff have been shocked by the mindless actions of burglars who broke into their sanctuary and let out rescue cats.

The rescue centre is called Compassion for Cats. It is based in Oak Hill, near Shepton Mallet, in Somerset. Judy Knowles, 71, discovered on Monday that the site had been broken into and doors had been left open for rescued cats to escape. 

Eight of them are still missing. She is in shock she said. She reported the break into the local Avon and Somerset Police but I suspect that they will do little about it because, for me, their attitude is terrible as mentioned above regarding shoplifting.

It isn't just shoplifting. Burglars have been left alone to their devices for many many years. Burglaries were always rated as of very low importance by the police across the UK. This is despite the fact that burglars are very distressing to people because their home has been invaded by nasty criminals. 

But the police just did not want to deal with burglaries and I suspect that they will do little or nothing about trying to find these rescued cats which have dispersed throughout the community.

Judy Knowles said that it appears that the elderly cats had been disturbed possibly chased around and some of them were very distressed. She can't understand why somebody would do this and it is noticeable that nothing was stolen.

Perhaps, actually, these were not classic burglars looking for money but animal advocates looking to release rescue cats. But that would be a terrible mistake because these cats were slated to be rehomed as that is the general intention of all cat rescue centres.

Anyway, this story is about the police actually. The police's failure to deal with what was once minor crime and is now a major crime because the country is looking at organised gangs carrying out shoplifting. This is no longer on individual deciding to nick something. It's far far bigger than that. Shame on the UK police.

The new Home Secretary said she'd do something about! Fat chance.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Saturday, 23 March 2024

Attempted aggravated burglary with a firearm to steal a cat

NEWS AND VIEWS: In Britain this would be aggravated burglary and/or 'armed robbery' which is defined as 'the crime of stealing from somewhere or someone using weapons. It can result in a 16 years prison sentence on conviction. Aggravated burglary is entering someone's home (trespass) and using a weapon to threaten the occupier to steal possessions from them.

Generic illustration, This is neither the burglar nor the cat concerned.

This story takes place in the US.

On Sunday, in East Haven, Connecticut, two armed suspects entered a home (burglary) with the intent to steal a cat valued at a high dollar amount. The incident occurred around 3:45 p.m. at a residence on Thompson Street. 

The suspects tried to enter through a sliding door at the back of the house. Despite the residents’ efforts to prevent entry, one suspect kicked through the glass door. 

Once inside, they brandished a firearm (making this aggravated burglary and armed robbery) and demanded the cat. However, a resident managed to fend off the intruders, who then fled in a blue BMW without the cat. 

The vehicle was later found in Hamden and seized for evidence. The police believe this was a targeted attack, as the intruders seemed to know the residents. No injuries were reported, and the investigation is ongoing.

Comment: I think this is the first time in reading 'cat news' for 17 years that I have encountered a story of a couple of criminals trying to steal a cat from someone's home by force. A very serious crime because the gun was used in combination with theft or attempted theft and trespass.

We are not told anything about the cat but the most valuable cats out there at the moment are F1 Savannah cats which can fetch something in the order of $20,000 to $30,000.

On a risk reward basis for these criminals to commit such a serious crime the cat would have to be more than a regular purebred cat costing $3,000-$5,000.


P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Monday, 18 September 2023

Couple of burglars take their cat with them in the getaway car

Burglars take their cat with them
Burglars take their cat with them. Screenshot.

NEWS AND COMMENT: A couple of burglars appear to have taken a cat with them in their car! Who'd do that? The burglars had to abort the burglary of a local chemist and got away with $500 of drugs before being caught by the police. In the meantime their cat was in the getaway car! The police called the RSPCA who took the cat away. I'll presume that once the alleged criminals have been tried and by the look of it convicted that they'll eventually be reunited with their cat. If the cat belongs to them.

They are currently on remand as we call it in the UK meaning in a police cell until trial. As they were caught red-handed in the act, they'll be convicted. I wouldn't expect them to be imprisoned but Australia have a different culture. The point is that the cat needs to be reunited with their owner or owners so when will that happen? If it should happen at all.

There is an argument that says they should not own a cat as their caretaking is substandard! Taking a cat on a burglary indicates less than optimal car caregiving, I think you'd agree. But as mentioned this might not be their cat. Scanning a microchip comes to mind to check for the owner.

That said I should not prejudge. One of them could be the owner and he might be a bloody good cat owner. Perhaps they were just in dire straits and hatched a bad plan to make some quick bucks. We don't know. They might not be hardened criminals but silly blokes.

It's tough for the cat as she/he will now have to spend time in an animal shelter which are unpleasant places for rescue cats and dogs: noisy and strange.

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