Since 2023, the number of ‘catnappings’ in the UK has shot up. Now reports have emerged of mass-breeding programmes using abducted moggies
In October 2023, Agata Losa, a psychologist from south-east London, found that her Bengal cat, Betty, had been stolen. She had recently moved to the area when Betty went out into the back garden one day and disappeared.
“In the morning, she still wasn’t there and I started panicking,” says Losa, who, appropriately enough, lives in Catford. “For the three weeks she was missing, I went out looking for her, I put up hundreds of posters, I posted up to 10 times a day on local Facebook groups and the Nextdoor app. Despite doing everything I could, there was nothing.”
A neighbour advised her to keep an eye on Gumtree and other sites where pets are sold, and lo and behold, there was a “badly photoshopped” advert for Betty, with a list price of £900.
