OTLEY is being terrorised by a prolific cat burglar… literally.
Taboo, the 12-year-old moggie has been waging a war on the private property of residents living near The Oval, and there’s nothing her owner can do about it.
Like Slinky Malinki from the children’s stories by Lynley Dodd, or Macavity the Mystery Cat in the poem by TS Eliot, Taboo is a master criminal who constantly evades the law, and who regularly brings home clothing, socks, underwear… and even eggs.
Owner Sandra Danskin has to keep posting pictures of Taboo’s latest haul on Facebook to help reunite the stolen property with its rightful owners.
Sandra, who lives on The Oval and works the night shift at the Abbeydale care home in Ilkley, told the T&A's sister paper, the Wharfedale Observer: “Whenever I come home from my shift there are all sorts of things waiting for me, either dragged in through the cat flap or left on the drive.
“This morning I had four pairs of socks and a pair of underpants. She loves bringing back items of clothing like that, but also we’ve had a mop head and kitchen rolls.
“We even had half a dozen eggs once, still in their box, but all broken. We think she must have taken them off someone’s doorstep when the milkman dropped them off.”
Taboo is thought to steal clothing items from people’s washing lines or sneak into their houses if their doors are open. She’s rarely caught in the act, though one neighbour did once spot her trying to take a T-shirt from his clothes dryer in the kitchen.
She is very fastidious in her filching and will always ensure she brings back a full set of anything for Sandra, 62, who said: “If she brings back a sock she will always go back and get the matching one so there’s a pair.
“I have a box full of stuff she’s brought for me and every now and then I go on Facebook and post a photo of it all so people can claim it.”
Taboo’s life of crime began almost as soon as she was born.
She was originally owned by Sandra’s daughter Gemma, who lives in Otley, and was initially a house cat. She perfected her pilfering techniques by taking items from the clothes dryer downstairs and depositing them upstairs, and bringing towels from the bathroom down to the living room.
Eventually, Gemma could bear the kleptomaniac cat no longer and Taboo went to live with Sandra and her three other cats… and then began her criminal career in earnest once she started venturing out into the neighbourhood.
Sandra said: “Whenever she gets something she sits outside and makes this high-pitched whining noise to let me know. I’ve tried talking to her about it but she doesn’t change her ways.
“Underwear, socks, shoes… she just keeps bringing them. I can’t tell you how many pairs of gardening gloves she’s brought me. She also has a bit of a strange taste for pieces of wet cardboard.
“I’ve never heard of a cat doing anything like this before, and she shows no signs of stopping.
“Somebody joked to me that I should train her to go and visit the nearest Rolex watch shop!”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here