Police are investigating after a thief stole a cat and then wrote a letter taunting the animal’s owner – boasting of how it loves its new life.
Animal lover Nigel Stern, 52, spent weeks searching for beloved companion Minx after she vanished from his home in Lostwithiel, Cornwall.
He put up posters appealing for the three-legged cat’s safe return but heard nothing until a mysterious typed letter was sent to local businesses.
The note, purporting to be from the missing moggy, thanked locals for their concern but informed them she was now living happily in the countryside.
It said: “I made friends with two very nice people who live in the country and when they invited me to come and live with them I said ‘yes please’.
“I am well, very happy, love living in the countryside and can run up and down the stairs really fast now.
“I follow my friends into the bathroom, watch them shower, bounce on their bed and help type things on their computer.
“I miss you all, especially my Dad. Please let him know I am OK.”
The letter – signed Little Three Legs xxxx – was immediately passed on to devastated Nigel who contacted the police.
Minx, who lost a leg after she was hit by a car, was well-known in the rural Cornish town, where she would stroll up and down the shopping parade.
She was even made an honorary member of the Lostwithiel Social Committee after Nigel took her along to meetings.
Officers are yet to establish whether it was a genuine theft, a prank – or both.
But kitchen porter Nigel is convinced the black and white cat, which disappeared on September 8, was stolen.
He said: “When I saw the letter my blood was boiling with anger; it’s disgusting.
“Whoever took her knows who I am because the letter says, ‘I miss you all, especially my dad; please let him know I’m OK’.
“She’s a right little character around the town and everybody knows her. She was really happy where she was and had lots of friends.
“She was like a dog in the sense that she wagged her tail when she was happy. I miss her and just want her back.
“Whoever did it is probably keeping her locked in and she hates to be kept inside. I’ve asked window cleaners and postmen to keep an eye out as well.”
Other parts of the letter appear to imply that the offender took the cat because it wasn’t
PC Andrew Barnicoat of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “It’s obviously a very upsetting case and we’re just looking to reunite the cat with its owner, so all information would be welcome.”
