Cat nabbed from car reunited with owner

Barely 48 hours after being snagged from a parked car, Roxy the cat was reunited with her Alameda owner Saturday afternoon.

The 12-year-old cat, who was nabbed by an unidentified thief Thursday night in San Francisco, showed up at San Francisco SPCA the following evening.

Apparently the burglar, fickle as the felines he steals, had a change of heart.

A person at the SF SPCA recognized Roxy from a KTVU news report, and by 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, the kitty was back with her rightful owner.

The catnapping, caught in action by a neighborhood surveillance camera, took place on Polk Street near Broadway at 9:30 p.m. Footage showed the suspect, a man dressed in a dark hoodie, break the passenger seat car window.

The thief then waited a moment before taking off with a cat carrier that held poor Roxy inside.

From the surveillance video, viewers can spot Roxy’s two gleaming eyes reflect in the dark as she’s carried away.

Caroline Adamson, Roxy’s owner, said she spent Friday driving all over the city in search of her pet:

“I really feel like I’m her mother. I’m supposed to keep her safe and I didn’t. It’s a horrible feeling.”

Adamson was in town for a business dinner, and planned to drop the eight-pound cat off at a friend’s house before a family trip the next day.

Inside her car was a backseat filled with luggage and a purse with a laptop, but the thief only had eyes for Roxy.

The case is indeed an unusual one, said San Francisco police officer Carlos Manfredi — because people mostly steal dogs:

“We don’t get too many calls for service with people who claim that their cats were stolen.”

Adamson, who cancelled her family camping trip in Wisconsin to look for her pet, said Saturday night that Roxy is back home, eating and seems “a bit grumpy, but okay.”

As a reminder to any puppy pickers or kitty nabbers out there, there are plenty of free pets available at the SF SPCA with no criminal activity necessary.