The cat came back - not quite the next day - but her family couldn’t be happier.
Jeff Cameron, from the Buckerfields on Springfield Road, said their store cat Annie was returned home at around 11 a.m. Wednesday, Apr. 16 after being stolen Apr. 12, and it was as though she’d never been gone.
“She was no worse for wear, there were no signs of stress and she was back to her old self, greeting people,” he said.
Annie was retrieved from a Thompson River Estates residence last week by Ashcroft RCMP. The cat-napper had been the the Kelowna SPCA earlier in the day looking to replace a family pet that had recently passed away. The SPCA told her they couldn’t release an animal without a proper carrier and sent her to Buckerfields to buy one. While at the store, the woman spotted Annie, who looked similar to the absent pet, and left with her instead of the carrier.
This was caught on the store’s surveillance camera as well as by witnesses inside the store and out on the street, who provided Kelowna RCMP with a license plate number from the vehicle she left in.
The woman was co-operative with police and handed over the cat as well as the carrier she had purchased elsewhere. It will be up to Kelowna RCMP whether charges are laid against her.
The staff at Buckerfield’s harbour no ill will against them, despite their apparent poor judgment, they’re just glad the cat’s back.
“It’s a happy ending, we’re just happy to have her back,” he said.
And Annie’s not going to see many changes, going forward.
“She basically has free reign in the store and comes and goes as she pleases, and that will stay the same” Cameron said.
“We may get a GPS chip for her… we’ll look into that.”
First thing’s first, however, it’s now time to celebrate Annie’s return.
“We were overwhelmed by the response,” he said. “Without the support of everyone involved we never would have got her back. We got calls from all over B.C. asking how Annie is.”
- with the Kelowna Capital News