Kate Felmet’s cat, Esme would steal the neighbour’s gloves, face masks and any other items she could fit in her mouth. The owner used to knock from door to door, in the hope to find the stolen item’s owners where she would return the item and apologises for her cat’s behaviour.
But recently, she found an easier way to deal with her thief cat.
Since Esme first started going outside during the summer of 2019, she has been bringing home at least one stolen item every day. It started with birds and bits of trash but it escalated when coronavirus lockdown started in spring 2020.
“My mom is an avid bird watcher and was quite distressed, so I began to praise Esme for anything she brought me that wasn’t a bird,” Felmet said. “Each time she brings something, she comes to the back door and yowls in a very distinctive and harsh way until I come to tell her she has done a good job.”
She started to bring home several face masks a day. On one particular day, she brought home 11. But somehow in April, she started to focus on gardening gloves.
Pictures: Kate Felmet
“One week in late April, she brought two pairs per day,” Felmet said. “At the end of the week, I had 14 pairs, and I thought that if I didn’t do something about it I’d be swamped by the end of the summer.”
That was when the yard sign idea came into her mind. She decided to put up a sign and place a clothesline next to it, holding all the stolen items.
Pictures: Kate Felmet
It was a great idea and Felmet estimated that she has returned back 10 pairs of gloves, several masks and a running belt back to their rightful owners which are her neighbours.
“They mostly seem amused,” she said of her neighbours, “but it’s kind of awkward with the family from whom Esme has stolen the same pair of kneepads out of their garage three times.”
Sources: Insider
