news – Pain In The Bud

Cop Named Cat Busts Amazon Driver Named Cat For Stealing Family’s Cat

It’s the first case successfully prosecuted under a new UK law that treats pets as living beings, not the “property” of a person or family.

It started, as these things often do these days, with an Amazon delivery driver who took a shine to a UK family’s pet feline.

Catalin Stancu, 41, was delivering a package to a home in West Yorkshire this January when he spotted a floofy tabby cat named Nora. When Nora didn’t come back inside that day and was still missing a day later, homeowner Carl Crowthers checked footage from his surveillance cameras and saw Stancu interacting with Nora before picking her up and driving off with her.

We wrote about the theft at the time, noting Amazon hadn’t changed its standard customer service response (“How much would you say your cat was worth?”) to customers traumatized by the company’s drivers stealing their beloved pets.

Crowther also hinted that he’d like to go into more detail, but didn’t want to endanger an ongoing police investigation. Now we know why.

Nora’s family contacted West Yorkshire police, who put Sgt. Cat Ryan in charge of the investigation. Ryan used information from the surveillance videos to track Stancu to his home. Around the same time Stancu, realizing footage of himself was spreading on socials and in traditional media, contacted Crowthers via Facebook to return Nora.

On Thursday, Stancu was sentenced, marking the first time a person has been successfully prosecuted using changes made by the Pet Theft Act.

That law, passed and enacted in 2024, creates a new category for pet thefts recognizing animals are not just property that can be replaced. It gives police new ways to charge people accused of stealing pets and provides judges with more options for sentencing, including up to five years in prison, fines, community service and other sentencing conditions.

It’s also a model for other countries and jurisdictions. Currently, almost every US state law lists pets as property, most under archaic agriculture and markets laws that were meant to settle disputes over farm animals. This is also a subject we’ve covered, noting the numerous advantages of modernizing animal laws so crimes involving pets are treated differently than, say, an argument between two farmers about who owns a particular cow.

Stancu admitted to driving off with Nora before his sentencing, but said despite the fact that she was wearing a collar, he thought she was a stray.

“I didn’t steal her, I took her,” he told the court.

District Judge Paul Marks gave Stancu an eight week suspended jail sentence and ordered him to pay £500 in compensation, which equals about $670 at current exchange rates. A suspended sentence is the UK equivalent of a conditional discharge in US courts, meaning Stancu must stay out of legal trouble for at least a year to avoid serving jail time.

Marks acknowledged that Stancu made efforts to return Nora once the story hit the press, but said his actions still violated the law.

“Whatever your initial motive was for taking Nora, and whatever concerns you had about Nora’s health, you should not have behaved in the way you did,” Marks told him. “Nora was a much-loved family pet and the family wanted her back… The distress they suffered for three days when they knew nothing of where Nora was, was very upsetting.”

In a statement, the family said they’d spoken to Stancu, accepted his apology, and hope the case helps people realize they’re doing more than removing “property” when they take a cat or dog. Nora, they said, is a member of their family.

“We are incredibly thankful and relieved that she was eventually returned safely to us,” the statement reads. “We hope today’s outcome sends a clear message that animals are not objects to be stolen, and that the pain caused to families by these actions is very real.”

As for Sgt. Cat Ryan, she said she was happy to catch Catalin Stancu and return a family’s beloved cat. The Pet Theft Act, she said, made it possible because such crimes are now taken more seriously under the law.

“One look at how happy the Crowther’s have been happy to have Nora home, and see how settled she is to be back, only confirms how important it was for us to achieve this outcome,” she said.

NOTE, 5/15: Stancu’s sentence included £500 in compensation to the victims and a suspended eight week jail term. Under the plea agreement, Stancu will avoid jail if he stays out of legal trouble for the next year. A previous version of this story did not note the jail sentence was suspended.

Just Make Larry The Cat The UK’s Prime Minister Already

Who better to take charge in the UK government’s seat of power than the cat who has lived there for 15 years?

Larry the Cat, the UK’s most magnanimous and beloved feline, has shared his home with six prime ministers since he was brought on to No. 10 Downing St. in 2011.

After elections last week diminished current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s party and grip on power, it seems only a matter of time before a seventh prime minister applies to share Larry’s home.

But if doing the same thing repeatedly and hoping for different results is the definition of insanity, as the famous saying has it, then it won’t be long before Larry outlasts his seventh and eighth prime ministers.

There’s a simple solution: roll out the big chair for Larry. He already naps in it.

As the UK’s equivalent of the White House, No. 10 is both the residence and office of the country’s political leader, and in 2011 the rodent problem at Downing Street was so out of control that then-Prime Minister David Cameron famously threw a fork at a mouse which appeared during a state dinner.

Enter Larry. A prominent local rescue in London, Battersea Dogs and Cats, recommended the former stray for his hunting skills, and Larry arrived at Downing Street like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

He has outlasted Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak.

With the prime ministership feeling like a revolving door at times, Larry’s stoic presence has provided the kind of stability the late Queen Elizabeth II would be proud of. He’s become a national treasure, with approval numbers with the public that human politicians would kill for.

Now the sixth human Larry has generously allowed to occupy No. 10, Keir Starmer, is on the ropes. While we don’t pretend to be experts on the procedures, deal-making and Machiavellian maneuvering that allows UK politicians to wrangle coalitions into prime ministerships, the headlines indicate Starmer is on his way out even as he tries to dig in his heels.

He’s lost a significant amount of support since a major election defeat, and while he remains defiant, his own party members have begun to urge him to step down. It’s a familiar pattern to anyone who has observed politicians come to grips with the end as everyone around them braces for change.

Larry celebrated his 19th birthday just a few months ago but has shown no signs of slowing down.

Here at PITB, Little Buddy and I feel that instead of handing the government to another incapable human, it’s long past time to make Larry the official prime minister.

Larry is already the UK’s de facto leader, well-versed in statecraft from more than 15 years of napping in the vicinity of the UK’s top decision-makers. He’s not intimidated by other politicians, and while some (like former US President Barack Obama) have earned his favor, he’s famously snubbed others.

He’s been the de facto power within No. 10 for quite some time, his leadership skills are beyond question, and the kids love him!

Larry for Prime Minister in 2026!

‘Cat Life Simulator’ Is The Latest In The Evolving Play-As-A-Cat Game Genre

Ah, to experience life as a cat for a few hours…

With the success of games like Stray and Little Kitty, Big City, it’s become clear there’s an escapism market for video game players who find it relaxing to step into the paws of our feline friends.

While Stray is an adventure game with heavy doses of mystery and atmospheric science fiction, Cat Life Simulator looks like it’s trying to scratch the same itch as Little Kitty by allowing gamers to experience the whimsical side of feline existence.

That is to say, don’t expect any major challenges, boss fights, or RPG mechanics like leveling up.

In a game like this, the journey is the point, and we use “journey” in a very loose sense here, since it can include napping, knocking objects over for fun and causing havoc.

The closest thing to a challenge mechanic we can see in the trailer is avoiding water. As we all know, our furry friends are generally not fond of getting wet. You wouldn’t either if you were walking around with the equivalent of a fur coat you can partially shed in the warm months but can never fully ditch. (Unless you have a human who brings you to a groomer, which for many cats may rank worse than getting soaked.)

As casual-friendly as Cat Life Simulator looks, the visuals are decidedly high end, and the early hardware recommendations indicate this is a game that will require a decent video card at least.

The game is listed as “coming soon” on Steam with no specific date. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.

Woman Rescues Kitten Found In Bucket Of Glue, Now He’s Her New Buddy

Little Elmer likely wouldn’t have survived more than a few hours if a Good Samaritan hadn’t found him and brought him to the Humane Society.

Leah Owens and Elmer the kitten have had a rough time of it lately, but now that circumstances have brought them together, both their lives have improved.

Owens, 72, lost her husband to blood cancer late last year and has been feeling lonely. She has three cats, but they’re independent little rascals.

Then Elmer came along.

The gray tabby kitten, who has a very Buddesian look about him, was rushed to the North Texas Humane Society about two weeks ago by a Good Samaritan who found the little guy submerged in a bucket of industrial glue.

Elmer when he was covered in glue, left, and looking healthy and happy now, right. Credit: Humane Society of North Texas

After dish soap and several other substances failed to get the glue out of Elmer’s fur, Owens stepped in and gave the kitten a bath in canola oil.

Removing the super sticky substance required round-the-clock care, with Owens returning Elmer to his oil bath and massaging the glue out of his fur by hand.

Elmer was so relieved, he now considers massages a several times daily requirement and nudges Owens to give him the spa treatment.

Staff at the Humane Society say they’re not sure if Elmer fell into the glue bucket or if someone tossed him into it. He’s about two months old.

Elmer resembles a certain gray tabby and even has a similar tuft of white fur on his chest. Credit: North Texas Humane Society

As stories like this always do, Elmer’s plight pulled on the heartstrings of potential adopters, but Elmer and Owens have grown quite fond of each other.

Now it’s official: Owens’ home is Elmer’s forever home, and she’s his caretaker/masseuse for life.

Great job, Leah Owens! And watch out, gray tabbies can be quite demanding, but they also have big hearts.

Australian Celebrity Chef Salivates Over Prospect Of Feral Cat Meat Sandwich

Maggie Beer was reportedly intrigued by the idea of eating a “pussycat sandwich.”

Meet Maggie Beer, a “culinary icon” from Australia who was convinced to teach cooks at some sort of community kitchen on the promise that another chef would kill a feral cat to make her a “pussycat sandwich.”

Beer was invited to help instruct cooks who volunteer for a program feeding Australian seniors. In return, one of the cooks would show her how to prepare domestic cat meat.

Note that this was reported by a major Australian media outlet as a quirky culinary story, just a bit of fun to have a laugh over.

That goes a long way to explaining the state of mind in a country that recently killed millions of cats by poisoning them and has pledged to exterminate all free-roaming cats because self-styled conservationists believe felines — not habitat destruction, mass industrialization, the widespread use of carcinogenic pesticides, windmills, glass buildings and all the other changes wrought by human presence — are the primary drivers of local bird and small mammal extinction.

“We were talking a lot about cooking kangaroo tails and then I also told her about how one of our directors… had recently cooked us a feral cat from Kiwirrkurra,” said Sarah Brown, the CEO of Purple House, which prepares meals for Australian seniors.

“She got very excited about this and I said, ‘Well if you come to Alice Springs and do some cooking classes with us, then Bobby West will teach you how to cook a pussycat and you can have a pussycat sandwich for lunch.'”

Feeding seniors intelligent companion animals is about giving them “joy as well as sustenance,” Brown claims.

Thankfully not everyone in Australia thinks this is amusing, nor do they buy the claims that slaughtering cats will magically solve all the problems facing indigenous wildlife.