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 image: Source: local police force.

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.

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.

Woman stole her neighbour's cat but it's not a crime

Can this possible? A woman steals her neighbour's cat but it is not a crime? It can happen. Let me paint the picture. But first let me say that sometimes it is simply not possible to say that cats can be owned by anyone. It is up to the cat sometimes. And they make a choice.

An amusing a slightly bizarre illustration for the article by Bing's Copilot. 

Scenario

A person is a terrible cat owner. Poor food and he shouts at his cat (Bertie) all the time. He's too stressed to be good at cat caregiving and he has the wrong mentality.

Three houses down is a single, lonely woman who loves animals and cats in particular. Bertie likes to visit her for a bit of peace and quiet and better cat food.

She is NOT trying to entice Bertie away from his owner, just feed him as he looked underfeed and his coat was in poor condition. He looked sick so she took him to the vet and paid for treatment out of her own pocket.

Bertie had worms and was infested with fleas. Bertie continues to visit the lady and eventually stays. 

The horrible man finds out and storms around to accuse the lady of stealing his cat. She denies it and said that Bertie chose to live with her.

He threatens to call the police. He does call the police! The police aren't interested. They say there is no evidence that the cat was stolen.

To steal something the alleged thief needs to have the intention to permanently deprive the owner of their possession. This does not apply to the lady's action as Bertie is free to return to the horrible owner.

Bertie is free to come and go as he pleases. She doe not detain Bertie. She does not have the right 'mens rea' - a Latin term meaning the intent or correct mentality to prove theft.

No crime because cats are not inanimate objects as the criminal law states. The criminal law does fit well with this kind of scenario because cats are sentient beings with a mind of their own.

They have a degree of intelligence and they not infrequently find a new home if their existing one is inadequate or they are driven from it.

Bertie's owner gives up realising that he did not want to keep Bertie in any case.

Bertie has a new owner. No, he has a new human companion and caregiver. That's the point. People don't own cats. They care for them in a symbiotic relationship. One where both parties benefit.

I have made up this story but the Daily Mail had a headline along similar lines but they are now charging for access to their newspaper - the Daily Mail + version of it. So I could not read the article. I had to make it up but I guessed what it was about.

Their headline:

Yes, I stole my neighbour's cat - but don't you dare call me a criminal! So is Lynne caring or a crook... read her story and decide for yourself

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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.

Armed robber stole two cats worth 10,000 Malaysian ringgit and slashed the owner

NEWS AND COMMENT: I think that this is the first story that I have read concerning an armed robbery in which two cats were stolen. And it was a very serious armed robbery because the robber slashed the cats' owner to the extent that he required 36 stitches for wounds to his right arm and right leg.

The cats' owner is Ryan Cheah. He had met the robber before as his home when he purchased a cat from him. A few days later the man contacted Cheah asking to purchase two more cats and to meet him at a parking lot at a shopping mall on February 18.

Cheah didn't want to do that and they met at a bus stop instead had 7:30 PM with his girlfriend.

When the buyer arrived his car was smashed up as if he had just been an accident. Cheah went to speak to the buyer when he brandished a knife demanding that he hand over money.

The robber also ordered a colleague to get the cats from Mr Cheah's girlfriend who was unaware what was going on and therefore she handed over the cats.

While the cats were being handed over Cheah tried to escape the vehicle and at that point the robber brandished a machete and tried to slash him. He defended himself but incurred the serious injuries mentioned.

The robbery has traumatised him and the police have confirmed that after an investigation they have made arrests and are to make a statement in due course.

Cheah was concerned that the robber and his colleagues might come round to his house because they know where he lives and harm him. But it appears that the robber is now in custody.

We don't know what sort of cats they were. They must be purebred cats but we don't know the breed. 10,000 Malaysian ringgit is around US$2000.

Source: The Star Online.

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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.

UK's new Pet Abduction law will not lead to old ladies feeding cats being prosecuted

There are many kind old ladies and men (for that matter) who are concerned about animal welfare who occasionally feed 'stray cats' and even adopt them. All perfectly normal. And sometimes a kindly old lady might live down the road from a cat owner whose cat likes to visit the old lady's home because she feeds him. And she might be feeding him better food than he receives at his home 😊.

Update: Christopher Wake, of South Croydon, London, writing to The Times said the following: "As a pet owner I acknowledge the emotional distress involved in the theft of family pets but new legislation is not required. The Theft Act 1968 allows for a five-year prison sentence, the same as in the proposed pet abduction bill. Unless the police investigate such crimes more thoroughly and judges are directed to impose stiffer prison sentences, this new legislation will achieve nothing that can't be achieved by present laws."

Comment: perhaps the government thinks that with a specific law concerned only with pet theft, judges and the police will take the matter more seriously and there will be more prosecutions and longer sentences?

Some people might see this as attempted theft 😕! It would be cruel to presume that an old lady is trying to entice a cat away from their owner. Although it might happen very rarely. But the problem here is that in the UK, a new law is being debated in the Houses of Parliament.

It is one specifically tailored to the theft of companion animals. The  existing Theft Act 1968 does not do justice to pet theft. Ordinary theft does not take into account the emotional distress caused to both companion animal and caregiver. It is this emotional distress element which distinguishes the theft of a companion animal from the theft of an inanimate object such as a laptop computer.

Currently they are treated exactly the same but it's time for change which is why the UK government supports the bill going through Parliament currently called the Pet Abduction Bill. Punishment will be tailored to the crime more accurately with a maximum five year prison sentence on conviction as I understand it.

But one Member of Parliament, Sir Edward Leigh, has raised the question about the workings of this Act after it has passed through Parliament. As I think it will be passed by the way because there's great support for it among Members of Parliament.

Sir Edward said that he remembers his mother's grandmother who was a great cat lady. She had 14 cats and every one of them she had adopted by feeding a stray cat as she saw it. Perhaps some of her cats were the property of her neighbours! Who knows. But Sir Edward saw a possible problem because under this proposed law (if it had been in place at the time) it might have resulted in her mother's grandmother being prosecuted and convicted for the crime of pet theft.

Apparently it won't but I can see a problem arising potentially at least. Anna Firth, the MP for Southend West who sponsored the bill said that it would not punish cases where there had not been malice or ill intent when looking after a cat.

This is about what is called mens rea which means intent. All crime requires an intent to commit that particular crime which is part of the prosecution process. There are two parts to it both the mental and the physical. So if an old lady is feeding a cat voluntarily because they want to help the cat but she has no intention of stealing the cat then she can't be prosecuted. 

That's common sense but it doesn't totally preclude the possibility that a charming and kindly old lady might have, on occasions, malicious intent to steal her neighbour's cat! A rare event but just about imaginable.

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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.

British government minister explains in Parliament why her cats are so important to her

Screenshot from the video below.

I like this video as it adds a bit of humanity, gentleness and animal welfare into the House of Commons, which is often a raw place for debate. It is a lady Member of Parliament (MP) who does this by mentioning her two cats who've become so important to her as she alone after her husband died and her children left home.  

RELATED: UK government supports making cat and dog theft a specific crime.

The BBC video tells the story.  She is supporting the introduction into the law of England and Northern Ireland which would make pet theft a specific crime rather than simply the crime of theft under the Theft Act 1998. 

I am told that this law will not affect Wales and Scotland as it seems they have devolved powers on this matter but I think this needs to be checked. I tried but failed to get clarity.

BBC says: An environment minister explains the role of her two cats - Mr Tipps and Raffa - since she lost her husband and her children left home. Rebecca Pow's bill to make cat and dog theft a criminal offence is backed by the government.

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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.

Women steal elderly Ragdoll cat from front yard in Melbourne, Australia

NEWS/COMMENT: The video shows a couple of women in Melbourne, Australia, stealing an elderly Ragdoll cat owned by Andrew Ward, from the easily accessible front yard of his Melbourne home. The theft looks a bit haphazard and badly organised. Amateurish might be the correct description particularly as they were captured on the home owner's security camera.

The video tells us that four women might have been involved. They dumped the cat three days later but was thankfully reunited as she is microchipped. The cat had been injured in the meantime. Apparently she has lost some teeth and had a sore spine which looks like mishandling when the cat was struggling. 

The video is meant to be an example of a surge in pet thefts in Melbourne. Clearly this Ragdoll cat was targeted because she looks so beautiful but they decided that she was too old (15) to be a commercial success and that they wouldn't be able to sell her for a good price.

In Australia, purebred Ragdoll cats can sell for AU$5000. The police are investigating. The video is quite good so one would think that they would be able to identify thieves.

Screenshot from the CCTV video.

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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.

Amazon driver charged with stealing a cat when she jumps in their van

The Fox 5 video tells the story very nicely. I comment briefly below the video.

Cobb County, GA: The driver, Kearston Griggs, has be charged with theft and animal cruelty. Is it theft? It looks like it to me as the driver intended to permanently deprive the owners of their cat by enticing the cat aboard her van and driving off. She had numerous occasions when she could have returned the cat if she had changed her mind although Amazon drivers are under huge time pressure.

But she just dumped the cat in a very dangerous place where there was a lot of traffic and high-speed traffic so it is no surprise Addy was killed by a vehicle.

The case is bizarre and there is a weakness in the charge of theft. I doubt that the driver had the intent to steal Addy. It was all too casual. She abandoned Addy eventually. That indicates that she did not intend at the outset to keep the cat for herself. And she did not want to kill the cat. The cat's death was due to the driver's carelessness but it was not a deliberate act to kill Addy.

But she took Addy 30 miles away before abandoning the cat. That's probably certain enough to deprive the owners of their cat permanently which would have to be proved under the charge of theft in court.

Although, she may get off on the theft charge. But she is in breach of animal welfare laws by abandoning the cat. In some states that would be a crime in itself.

My immediate research tells me that it is a crime to abandon an animal in Georgia. Here is the relevant law:

4-11-15.1. Unlawful to abandon domestic animal

Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 4-11-13, it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly and intentionally to abandon any domesticated animal upon any public or private property or public right of way. This Code section shall not be construed as amending or otherwise affecting the provisions of Chapter 3 of this title, relating to livestock running at large or straying.

She could be charged with animal abandonment. At the moment that has not happened as far as I know. This may be the more certain charge in fact.

Amazon driver charged with theft of a domestic cat when the cat jumps in their van

This is how Chinese thieves steal dogs for the dog meat market

The video is completely explanatory and horrific to any decent person. It shows a couple of men getting out of a van and climbing the wall surrounding a front yard in which are two pet dogs. They use dog catcher poles to capture the dogs and in the case of one of the dogs drag them over the wall with force by the steel collar around his neck. Horrendous. It could have killed the dog. Perhaps it did. 

Utterly, utterly brutal. By Western criminal standards these men are psychopathic bastards. They'd be in jail for several years if they did this in the UK and were caught and successful prosecuted.

The dogs are then driven in lorries in very cramped, rusty cages to China's south to the dog markets where their end will be shockingly brutal. My heart hurts for them. May they rest in peace. Bless them. As a wise person said, hell is empty. All the devils are stealing cats and dogs in China for dog meat and fur.

I won't say what I'd like to do to these men. It'd be as brutal as the abuse they mete out to the dogs.

Five black cats vanish near Darlington, UK. Is this witchcraft?

Firstly, there are people who practice witchcraft in the UK today, 2022. You don't hear much about them if anything. You don't see them but they are self-proclaimed witches practicing witchcraft. And they perform weird and wonderful ceremonies. We don't know where they are and I don't think that people are much interested in them except for people like me news media reports that five black cats have gone missing from two places: Croft-on-Tees and Dalton-on-Tees, both near Darlington, UK.

Five black cats vanish near Darlington, UK. Is this witchcraft? Image: PoC.

There are two strange facts about the case. There are other indoor/outdoor cats allowed to roam around these towns which are not black cats. Nothing happened to them. Secondly, the five black cats have completely disappeared. There is no trace of them anywhere. It is as if they no longer exist.

RELATED: The earliest record of the belief that cats are witches in disguise.

This would point strongly to the suggestion that a person or persons have simply taken them. They've been removed from the street and taken somewhere. Bearing in mind the association between black cats and witches, and also bearing in mind, as stated above, that witches remain in the UK even today, it is reasonable to suggest that persons engaged in witchcraft have used black cats as some sort of sacrifice.

That sounds horrible and brutal and it conjures up a very unpleasant image. However, my gut feeling is that it is a reasonable and accurate assessment.

RELATED: Witches and Witches’ Familiars in the UK in the 1970s.

Specifically, three black cats on the same street in Croft-on-Tees vanished without trace in a matter of weeks leaving their caregivers bereft and searching for them.

And two black cats have also gone missing in a neighbouring village: Dalton-on-Tees. The matter is being investigated by the police. Mrs Schmidt who owned a black cat called Tom which has gone missing said:

"It is a complete mystery. The cats are chipped and none have been found on the roads. It is like they have just vanished into thin air. There are loads of cats in our village and it is just the black ones which have disappeared."

Anyone with any ideas or information which might help trace the cats can contact North Yorkshire Police by calling 101, press 2 and ask to speak to PSCO Helen Sutherland.

Casual and bold theft of 22-year-old cat is shocking

NEWS AND COMMENT-BOX HILL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: The home owner's security camera captured the entire event: a young woman walking by the front of the house and taking their cat. 

The video gives me the impression that she is walking to a set destination rather than out for a stroll. It's on a busy road. The cat is in the driveway looking out towards the road. The woman turns to look at the cat (whose name is Bob) and tries to pet him but he backs off. She tries again and he accepts. 

She then casually picks him up and walks off. The video quality is quite good and, therefore, I would expect the police to be able to identify the woman. This should be a slam dunk prosecution if the police are on the ball. Although it is hard to get the police interested in pet thefts. They are investigating apparently.

Bob's owners are of course distraught because they've lived with their cat for a very long time. The age of this cat is exceptional. Very few domestic cats live to 22-years-of-age. He's a tabby-and-white and described as friendly and courageous. The owner of the cat is Giuseppina Roberts. The captioning on the video is incorrect. You will notice that.

Casual theft of 22-year-old cat from driveway. Screenshot.

The woman simply wants her cat back. She is not bothered if the thief is prostituted or not. She is asking for the thief to bring her cat back and if she does it will be her Christmas present. She is a very controlled and sensible woman but I am sure that she is very distressed. 

Bob was taken in a week ago. She believes that he is already dead. He's blind in one eye and has one paw missing. And of course is very old. It is possible that he could already be dead but of course it depends entirely on how good the thief is in looking after domestic cats.

The outstanding feature of this new story is the blatant, callous, bold and reckless way that this young woman steals Bob. I hope she's caught quickly.

A quick update on Christmas day 2021. This 22-year-old cat has been reunited with their owner. The cat was handed into a shelter. It looks as though the story got back to the woman who stole the cat and she decided to give the cat up wisely. The interesting aspect of the story is that there was an opportunity to arrest her for theft when she gave up the cat at the shelter. Perhaps somebody else did it for her. Anyway the good news is cat and owner are reunited which is a great Christmas present for Giuseppina Roberts.

Thug jailed for stealing two hairless cats and other items

NEWS AND COMMENT-BARNSLEY, UK: He is a father which I think compounds the problem. His name is Jordan Reynolds-Walsh and he's been convicted of burglary. He targeted two properties in the Goldthorpe area of Barnsley, UK.

Jordan Reynolds-Walsh. Photo: Yorkshire Live.

A woman was told by the police that her property had been broken into. She is the owner of two Sphynx cats. When she returned to her home she soon noticed that her two cats were missing as well as white goods and power tools.

The next day she saw two men carrying large bags from a house in Cooperative Street, Barnsley, to a Carr House flat. The police searched the Carr House flat. They found power tools and bank cards in the name of the victim. They also found the burglar's ID amongst the items.

They found one Sphynx cat in the bathroom and the second had been hidden behind a bath panel. Both were returned to their owner. He had left a can of larger with his fingerprints on it in the property! That convicted him.

Reynolds-Walsh had burgled another property earlier. He had ransacked a house in Cooperation Street on July 22 and stole a variety of items including a ring with sentimental value. He had smashed the door to the home. The repair charges were £1000.

Reynolds-Walsh admitted his crimes. The lawyer defending him said that he had lost his job as a scaffolder (scaffolder's are the worst form of human life by the way). His life had "spiralled out of control" and he had turned to drink and drugs. That was the statement in mitigation against his sentence which was two years and two months in prison.

The interesting aspect of this story is the theft of two rare purebred cats. On purely financial level they were worth stealing because the combined value is probably around £2000 or thereabouts. The difficulty he had, in his carelessness, was how to deal with them. How to care for them pending their sale? And because they are very noticeable it would be very difficult to sell them. It could be done but I would think that it would raise suspicions in the purchaser.

And of course they would be vulnerable to harm as they were in the care of this criminal for a while who had no idea how do care for them. The story does highlight, however, the value of purebred companion animals. I suspect that many more valuable pets are stolen than people are aware of in the UK. Dogs are particularly at risk.  The UK has deteriorated in recent years in respect of an increase in crime thanks largely to the ineffectiveness of the police and the lack of trust they have engendered through their own well-publicised criminality.

I live near Richmond Park, a famous and beautiful park in Surrey. There is currently a poster attached to the railings at Ham Gate, one of the entrances to the park that I frequently use. The poster contains a plea to find a dachshund dog lost their a while ago. It is highly likely that the dog was stolen. Dog owners let their dogs off the lead in the park which can be irresponsible because they harass the deer. There is also the risk that if they end up out of sight of their owner, which is entirely possible, they can be stolen by another user in the park who casually befriends the dog and then takes them home.

Mum has cried herself to sleep for 8 weeks over her lost, possibly stolen, snow Bengal cat

NEWS AND COMMENT: The story is a reminder that people who live with glamorous purebred cats really have to keep them indoors all the time. And because of that they should also seriously consider building a catio or a garden enclosure for their full-time indoor cat. The story concerns an 18 months old snow Bengal cat called Meeka. She has been lost since August 21, 2021. This post is dated October 19, 2021.

Snow Bengal cat lost for weeks and owner cries every night. Photo: Asia Sattar.

It seems that the owner, Asia Sattar, 51, and her family including her 20-year-old daughter Mariyya allowed Meeka to go outside unsupervised. That is quite unusual for a snow Bengal cat because they really are striking in appearance. They are bound to catch the eye of anybody who notices them. You're going to get somebody who perhaps isn't a thief but who is predisposed to being a thief being provoked into stealing this cat. That may be what has happened.

Meeka and Mariyya. Photo: the family.

It is unusual to have professional cat thieves roaming around your area but you will have ordinary citizens and neighbours who suddenly want to possess this wonderful looking cat and they can't resist it. And then when they keep the cat inside all the time you are never going to know where she's gone to.

Sattar believes that Meeka has been stolen. The presumed theft was reported to the police on August 28 but they did nothing as far as I can tell and they have closed the file. That's another problem in the UK at the moment. The police are sitting on their hands. They do not get off their bottoms for this sort of crime.

They don't do anything for a whole range of crimes including thefts up to thousands of pounds. They simply wash their hands of them. The criminals know this and they know that they will not be caught. This promotes criminality. The police are in acute dereliction of their duty at this present time. It is shameful behaviour and citizens like myself and this lady who has lost a cat are on our own. We have to deal with things without the support of law enforcement in the UK.

Asia's father was very close to Meeka and he still searches for her. He still puts up posters and they have offered a £1,500 reward. Judging by the length of time that the cat has been missing I think we can be very confident that they will not get their cat back unless something big changes.

They might seek the assistance of the cat detective. There is one in the UK who is pretty successful. I am surprised that they haven't contacted him. Sometimes cats do come back after a very long time. Perhaps she hasn't been stolen and is just wondering, having become a stray cat living in the wild. Sometimes domestic cats do that. But I doubt it.

And this, I think, is one of the downsides of owning a purebred cat especially the glamorous ones. You have to keep them in. A lot of people would say you have to keep all cats inside but in the UK it is not the default position. She got to build a catio if she has not done so already, and you've got to leash train your purebred cat if you want to take them outside unsupervised. There are extra things to do and extra responsibilities when you own a snow Bengal cat.

Man allegedly steals cats from street and hoards them. Police and RSPCA disinterested.

NEWS AND VIEWS: This is a disturbing story from Gainsborough, UK, which is in the Midlands. The locals living in the area allege that an unnamed man (update: he calls himself Ian Catmando and he is 56 years old) steals cats that happen to be in the street, puts them into a trolley and takes them home. His home appears to be in very poor condition, surrounded by a chicken wire and barbed wire fence with cat poop in the garden and apparently fleas all over the windows on the inside of the home. 

Man with cat on lead. This is the man. To be frank he looks and sounds as if he is bonkers. Image: Mirror.co.uk.

That's the picture which has been painted, which translates to one man stealing someone else's cat and then hoarding them. He claims that he is training cats to be therapy cats! On one occasion a photo was taken of him with four young cats all harnessed together outside the home. It looks bizarre and it is bizarre.

This is what it looks like inside this man's home. We don't know who provided the photo:

Man allegedly steals cats from street and hoards them. Police and RSPCA disinterested. Inside his home. Photo: ?

Protests have been mounted by locals:

Protestors demand that the cats be released. Photo: Michelle Page.

What is most bizarre and troubling, however, is that citizens have reported the matter to the RSPCA and the police and they appear to be disinterested. On the face of it, on the reports that I have read, this is a straight case of theft (Theft Act) combined with potential animal welfare issues which could be animal abuse or animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This is alleged criminal behaviour.

Man steals cats from street and hoards them. Police and RSPCA allegedly disinterested. Picture: The Mirror.

We are looking at potentially more than one crime here so why is the RSPCA and the police apparently disinterested? The neighbours say that it has been going on for about four years (but see below)! Apparently, there are up to 50 cats or more inside the home (he claims he has 87). The problem has been highlighted by Michelle Page of Page's Pet Rescue. Michelle says that what she has seen is horrendous. She has also said that the alleged thief and cat hoarder has been known to walk to the village of Blyton, over 5 miles away with a trolley full of cats!

She said:

"I could see one of the cats looked like it had a big abscess and called the RSPCA but nothing has been done. He tells people the cats have cat flu and FIV."

Apparently, this bizarre behavior has been going on for about 18 months. Melanie Barker of Gainsborough Feral Rescue has spoken to the man who said that the RSPCA gave him the cats because they couldn't be rehomed as they had cat flu. Comment: that sounds highly unlikely, in fact ridiculous, and I cannot see how it can be true.

Update Sept 14th 2021: 12 cats were released from the house and one died. They were in a very poor state with the usual neglect health issues such as fleas and URIs. The protest continues as there are many more cats to be released for medical treatment and ultimately rehoming.

Update Sept 17th: Here's Ian who says "I’m a professional cat carer and have been since 1992". He walks up to 15 cats at a time in leads!

Ian. Photo: Metro.co.uk.

Melanie Barker said that she has contacted the police, Environmental Health and the RSPCA. Concerned people are waiting for action. Come on RSPCA pull your digit out.

Source: Mirror.co.uk

Theft of companion animals is more than simple theft. UK government introduces new offence.

The UK government is going to recognise in a new law that the theft of a companion animal is not simple theft. You cannot apply the law of theft to the crime of stealing companion animals. Because the existing law does not reflect the fact that for most people pets are not just property like a television or computer. The theft of a companion animal is traumatic both for the owner and the companion animal. This added element to the theft of a pet must be taken into account when punishing criminals. The sentencing guidelines should be extended under this new legislation to allow lengthier terms of imprisonment.

Rushi Sunak, Chancellor, and his Labrador, Nova. Photo in public domain.

It will be an offence of "pet abduction". It is a response to the surge in dog and cat thefts (mainly dogs) which have occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. Dog thefts increased by a fifth during lockdown. The thefts were driven by market forces. People wanted to adopt a dog or cat during the extensive Covid pandemic lockdown periods. That pushed up the price of companion animals tremendously. Prices doubled or even trebled for the most popular breeds.

Criminals wanted to get in on the act. And to achieve that they had to obtain the assets for sale. So, they stole them. And it should be said that in the UK the police have a dismal record in either recovering stolen dogs to reunite them with their owners or catching the thieves. In London, for example, a hotspot for dognapping, charges against criminals were brought in less than 10% of cases. In about 50% of cases a suspect had never been identified according to The Sunday Times report of August 8, 2021.

Initially, government ministers had rejected the idea of introducing a pet theft offence because they thought it might interfere with the existing Theft Act and complicate the charging of offenders. They also believed that it might not lead to increased sentencing.

The government listened to charities, the police and breeders before deciding to go ahead with a pet abduction law. The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, has said that dog theft can "cause huge pain and grief to the victims".

Boris and Carrie Johnson, his wife, live with a rescue dog called Dilyn. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, bought a Labrador, Nova, this summer and Michael Gove also owns a dog called Snowy, a Bichon Frise.

A recent example of this crime is the theft of three pets, one a therapy dog, stolen from kennels at Brookfield Farm in Spondon, Derbyshire while the owners were on holiday. The therapy dog is a cockapoo called Elvis. He was the pet of a five-year-old boy with ADHD and autism. The dog was a big part of the mental health and well-being of this boy whose name, by the way, is Oscar.

The new offence will be added to the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is currently going through Parliament. It is expected to become law in the early part of next year.

Massive increase in pet thefts in Australia during Covid

As is the case in other countries, there has been a massive increase in pet thefts during Covid in Australia. This is confirmed by Anne-Marie in Sydney Australia who is a pet detective specialising in cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, goats, birds, pigs and horses! I don't think she specialises that all!

Attempted theft of a cat on a front porch caught by CCTV. I believe this is in the US and the picture is here for illustrative purposes only. Image: CCTV in public domain.

She said that she has always preferred animals to people. A good start if you want to be a committed pet detective. I suppose the reason for the dramatic increase in pet thefts in Australia is the obvious one which is increased demand. When more people want to adopt a cat or dog, let's say, demand goes up and if supply is short it leads to criminality. People who have lost work during Covid saw an opportunity to make money Anne-Marie said. So, these are casual pet thieves who I'd would describe as opportunistic.

Annie-Marie pet detective. Photo: Bill Plummer of The Observer.

And demand for pets, particularly dogs, increased dramatically too because of Covid. It's those long lockdowns that did it. The idle mind and the need for company.

But in the UK, it appears that pet thieves are predominantly members of an organised gang. And if people have lost work because of Covid they might find it harder to purchase a dog and therefore they steal an animal. Or they turn to the black market and purchase a stolen dog. And Anne-Marie says that in Australia, for the first time, shelters are empty and pets have become a commodity.

She is receiving or was receiving 50 enquiries a week. She describes various types of pet theft including planned stealing which normally involves a burglary or trespassing on someone's property. And sometimes a person known to the cat or dog owner steals the animal. Maintenance contractors working in the area or even on the home in question might thieve a pet.

You can see the scenario: you're having your house done up and you go out for a while leaving your dog at home. The contractors finish their work on their last day and take the dog. That would seem to be how it might unfold sometimes. And extraordinarily, sometimes pet-sitters steal the animal they are looking after. It'd be the last pet-sitting job they do though.

Anne-Marie says that there is no one method to deal with pet theft. You have to bring together all the elements such as the breed of the animal if they are purebred, the age, the circumstances and the owner's profile. They also gather information about micro-chipping and whether the animal is collared. The character of the pet is also a factor as it allows Anne-Marie to build up a picture.

She sometimes uses drones which are able to pick up a heat signature. That seems like a very clever idea to me and the use of drones has exploded in various contexts. Part of the role of a pet detective is to manage the emotions of cat and dog owners who are probably invariably utterly distraught. Sometimes they find the animal but they've died. Above all, from the owner's perspective, closure is the key. They want to know what happened. They can then move on.

Source: The Guardian via MSN.

Homeless man burgled a couple's apartment, slept there and stole their cats

PORTAGE, PENNSYLVANIA-NEWS AND COMMENT: Austin Shaffer is accused of breaking into an apartment, sleeping there, trashing it and taking the owner's two cats, while they were away on holiday. The story immediately got me thinking because how is a homeless man going to cope with caring for a couple of cats? What is he going to do with them? How did he carry them? It is all so implausible and impossible. 

I suppose he thought that he could sell them cheaply and make a few bucks but just looking after them before he sells them would be highly problematic for this man who seems to be in a state of minor chaos.

Austin Shaffer. Photo: Police mugshot.

Perhaps he's not homeless as he states. He justified his illegal entry into this couple's property by saying that he was homeless and he needed to get out of the weather. He slept in their bed and as mentioned stole their cats. He's been charged with two felony counts of burglary and criminal trespass. His criminality was discovered when the couple returned home on May 26 when it was quite clear that there had been a burglary because the front door had been tampered with and there were bedroom blankets on the floor and their two cats were missing. In addition, more than one witness told the police that they had heard and seen Schaffer breaking into the apartment.

His justification for stealing the cats was that he thought they were abandoned! He said that he was doing a good deed by taking them. It is reported that he bragged about breaking into the apartment and trashing it as an act of revenge.

It is highly unusual for a burglar to steal cats. Certainly, in the UK it would never happen unless they had information about one or two expensive purebred cats living in a home and they had the idea that they could breed from them. It's all a bit fanciful. Nowadays burglary is not that profitable compared to cybercrime. It's small change and most burglars, in my opinion, are opportunistic rather than organised criminal groups who wouldn't be interested in stealing cats. The man in question in the story is the kind of person who commits burglary but steals money and stuff which is easily converted to cash. Cats aren't.

Source: wsbtv.com

Is pet theft a crime in the UK?

Yes, pet theft is certainly a crime in the UK but sadly many people regard it as a minor, trivial crime. It is a crime which falls under the Theft Act 1968 and the maximum penalty is seven years imprisonment. But that maximum is misleading because almost always the punishment is much less. There is, however, a gradual awakening to the fact that pet theft is more than stealing an object. It is the breaking of a close bond between a person and their beloved companion animal who they regard as a member of the family. That aspect of the theft is factored in or should be nowadays.

There needs to be a unique crime of pet theft in the UK. Image: Pixabay.

However, there needs to be a specific crime of Pet Theft – rather than it falling under the Theft Act. It is, arguably, insulting to the relationship between pets and their owners to place this crime under the Theft Act because it equates a companion animal with an inanimate object. Times have moved on. That concept is out of date. A lot of emotional harm is caused by the callous criminals who ruthlessly and sometimes violently steal companion animals on the streets. There are many distressed people in the UK who have lost their companion animals this way.

Thankfully, Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, has written about this on the Mail on Sunday newspaper which is published online on Mail Online. He does not regard the theft of companion animals as a trivial matter for two reasons. Firstly, this kind of crime which is still regarded as very minor can lead to more serious crime. This is the "broken window theory". It's a theory which states that if there are broken windows in buildings it encourages crime.

"At present this crime is far too often dismissed as relatively trivial – on a par, say, with shoplifting....I don’t agree." - Boris Johson.

The police need to stamp on relatively minor crime in order to make an impact in reducing more serious crime. Secondly, there is, as mentioned, the emotional connection in pet thefts. It is a unique kind of crime in that regard. It is not simply the theft of an animal. The thieves are stealing the bond between person and animal. This is a loving, supportive bond upon which many people depend on for their contentment. The theft of companion animal can break people. I'm not sure that everyone realises how emotionally distressing it can be.

In this vein, Boris Johnson's government has set up the Pet Theft Task Force to try and make sure that the criminal justice system is dealing properly with pet theft. I believe that it is an attempt to focus more intently on this aspect of criminality. This is particularly important at this time because of the surge in pet thefts due to the coronavirus pandemic. I'm sure that pretty well everyone has read about the surge in mainly dog thefts because of their increased value as a consequence of many more people adopting dogs at this time for company during these long lockdowns.

So the coronavirus pandemic has brought into focus pet theft in the UK and the need to do something concrete about it rather than letting this aspect of criminality languish within the umbrella of the Theft Act which is highly unsuitable.

Yes, pet theft is a crime in the UK but it is not being dealt with properly and the callous criminals who participate in this activity are rarely caught and I suspect that the animals are also rarely reunited with their owners. Sometimes the stolen animals are used to breed more animals for sale, if they are not sterilised. So a charming female dog might end up in some grubby property constantly breeding puppies for the remainder of her life. The thought of that in the mind of her owner is highly distressing.

On other occasions the animal is sold on at an inflated price or they hold the animal as ransom for a large sum of money. In all cases these are callous acts of casual criminality. I am pleased that Boris Johnson has written about it. I suspect that he was encouraged to do so by his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, who we know is an animal advocate. I for one am pleased that she is and that she is his fiancée except for the cash for curtains fiasco which appears to be her doing as well.