“Woman trains cats to steal from her neighbors”. It may sound fake, but it’s all over the press. an 85 year-old woman from Columbus, Ohio, was arrested yesterday.
The reason? According to the police, she had trained her 65 (yes, you just read “65”) cats to steal from her neighbors. Her name’s Ruth Gregson, and she lives on her own in her big old house. Well, alone with her 65 cats.
The neighbors didn’t have much contact with her. She barely went out, had no family and she was mostly silent. For a while, most of Gregson’s neighbors had noticed some small things missing in their homes. Pieces of jewelry, coins, small shiny things… But they didn’t suspect the cats at first. After all, who would have?
It took them a while to realize that before something went missing, some of the tabbies had been through their houses. Their neighborhood is peaceful and save, and some neighbors even left some milk on their front door in case the cats appeared!
However, they did mention the burglaries to the police, and they started an investigation. What they found out was simply unbelievable. According to Columbus Police Chief, Gregson’s cats acted like Fagin’s thieving children in Oliver Twist.
They came and went from the neighbors homes to their own, always carrying something small but shiny and valuable with them. How much did the cats steal? Police say it’s somewhere around $650,000 worth.
Eventually, when the police arrested her, Ruth Gregson had to admit the whole story. According to her, what the cats did was “earn their meal”. She couldn’t afford having all that many animals at home with her. So she only fed them when they came home with some booty.
In her home, the police couldn’t find any of the stolen objects. That’s why they presume she must have sold them. They’ve also made a public announcement, because they suspect there might be more victims in the area. It’s the first case in the US of a woman being convicted after training her animals to steal.
Did you really believe this story?
“Woman trains her cats to steal from her neighbors”. Sounds to bizarre you probably thought it was fake news at first. But then you went on reading and you started having some doubts. Could someone really make this story up?
Well, the answer is yes. What you just read is a perfect example of fake news. Next time you see a story like this, think twice before believing it.
Bu the way, the picture is of Helen Staudinger, a 92-year-old woman from Florida arrested after shooting her neighbor because he wouldn’t kiss her. Or is this just fake news again?
