Kleptomaniac cat terrorises New Zealand neighbourhood

He's no Ned Kelly but an Invercargill suburb has its own lawless Kelly that is terrorising residents. Meredith Kelly's cat Gus has become a feline kleptomaniac, flogging a large amount of booty from the Rosedale area, including more than 60 shoes from who, only the owners of the missing items know. Miss Kelly is slightly embarrassed by the actions of her 2-year-old cat and at a loss as to what to do with the plunder – and how to stop him.

"At first I thought it was a bit funny, then a bit weird, now it has gone too far." Gus started innocently bringing home bark chips, leaves and even newspapers, but about six months ago graduated to clothing, including some "interesting" items of underwear, she said. Miss Kelly's partner did enjoy the spoils for a while, when Gus switched to rugby magazines, but it wasn't long before that stopped and for the past couple of months shoes have been the almost exclusive target.



No brand or style is favoured by Gus, with his ill-gotten gains ranging from hiking boots, children's dress shoes to sandals. "But he has quite good taste." Gus was always proud of his catch, announcing it with a morning meow. "He either leaves the things in the hallway or, if they're too big to get through the cat-flap, on the step." He has even returned to the scene of his crime a few times to complete the pair of shoes. Gus has also pilfered rag-dolls, teddy bears and a ski mask.

Miss Kelly has tried to find the owners of the objects, leaving them in a box outside her Kowhai Ave house, but there were no takers. And the items keep coming – yesterday a T-shirt and some cloths. "I just don't know what to do, but I do want to get this stuff back to the owners." She has now become concerned that one of the targets of Gus' activities could be trying to track him and she fears might hurt him.