A barefoot gentleman in New Orleans crept onto the patio of a local restaurant to steal not money, not food, but a beloved community cat who had been living on the premises of the Camilla Grill for several years.
The cat, named Queenie, had made the restaurant her home a few years ago, before Hurricane Ida hit, according to USA Today. The cat was always seen at the cafe lounging on the patio or eating from her bowl in the manager's office. But when the manager, Ronnie Jaeger, showed up for work Monday morning, he noticed Queenie was missing. Fortunately, the man who took her was caught on surveillance camera (see video below, posted by The Camilla Grill), which will hopefully help bring the cat back home.
From USA Today:
The man came back a little after midnight with some dry food in a Bluebell ice cream lid to try and entice the cat and manages to get Queenie into a blue truck despite Queenie putting up a fight, Jaeger shared. …
The truck was found parked on nearby street. Jaeger left a note asking the owner to return Queenie. When someone from the restaurant went to check in on things, the note and truck were gone.
After asking neighbors in the area about the man, they were able to get in touch with his brother who said he'd seen the cat when he went to get Chinese food, figuring it was a stray.
The brother also reported Queenie had run off.
Jaeger filed a police report and alerted the community on the restaurant's Facebook page with the hope of gaining information that could lead to Queenie's return.
Front page thumbnail image: Chiyacat / shutterstock.com
