Stolen kitten still missing despite arrest of Waterloo man

The search is on for Crosby.

Despite an arrest this week in the theft of the 10-week-old kitten from the Waterloo Pet Valu store on Weber Street North, Crosby has not come home.

He has not been seen since he was snatched from the store, hidden by a man underneath a coat, around 6 p.m. on Nov. 24. Crosby was one of several pets featured in a sale at Pet Valu, organized by Pet Patrol, a cat rescue group.

“He’s out there. We know he is in someone's home,” said Jan Schneider, the founder of Pet Patrol.

“We are going to be offering a reward. The public has been generous enough to start bringing in some donations toward that.”

Schneider is sure someone has Crosby, because she received an email on Monday from a woman with photos of the kitten in an apartment in her building near the store. Police interviewed the woman, and she gave them the man’s name.

Then, the man didn’t come home for four days. But when he did, police came calling.

“They went through the apartment and the kitten was not there. Wherever he stayed before — he does have people he knows — the kitten is probably with them,” Schneider said.

Schneider said the man is “intimidating” and believes whoever has Crosby is afraid to come forward.

What has made the theft even more unfortunate, Schneider said, is that arrangements were in the works for Crosby’s adoption. The family is “heartbroken,” she said, and is following the story.

In her 28 years, Schneider said Pet Patrol has never been the victim of cat theft.

“The only issue we ever had in the past was that people would open the cage door, pet the cats, and then they would walk away and leave the door open. There has never been anybody trying to take the cat,” she said.

Cages in stores will now be locked.

The worry right now is Crosby probably isn’t feeling well, being jostled, “smuggled” around and given low-quality food, Schneider said.

“You just can't do that to any baby, right? He's no different. I know he's sweet as pie, and I know he's quite charming. He is a lovely little kitten. But this is not right. This is not the way to do it,” she said.

“This is really the worst kind of person that we would ever want a little baby coming in the hands of.”

Schneider said vet clinics in the area will allow someone to return Crosby with no questions asked.

And if anyone wants to donate to the reward, the cats or Crosby’s future veterinary care, they can specify where it goes and send money through donations@petpatrol.ca.

“We will get him back.”