Dusty the Klepto Cat

The odd Wikipedia article I ended up settling on is Dusty the Klepto Kitty. Dusty is a 9 year old Snowshoe cat. He was born on March 20, 2006, and adopted from the Peninsula Humane Society by Jean Chu and Jim Coleman. Dusty and his owners now live in San Mateo, California. He was life seemed normal until 2008 when his parents noticed unusual items around the house. There were objects in weird places, and they were unsure that they owned them. Wikipedia actually lists his occupation as a cat burglar.

            His thievery did not become well known until he appeared on the Animal Planet show Must Love Cats in February 2011. The crew set up motion sensor cameras and caught Dusty bringing his stolen goods home. This led to his story being covered on KGO-TV of San Francisco and a David Letterman appearance in February of 2011. He has become a national and international celebrity from these videos. Also, he was chosen as the Grand Marshall of Redwood City in May 2011, and a celebrity guest at the Peninsula Humane Society adopt-a-thon. His kitty-cam footage from the Animal Planet documentary inspired others. Dusty’s behavior ended up being a three minute short on the Puss in Boots DVD entitled “Klepto Kitty.” His owners also maintain a Facebook page to keep his fans up to date with his finds.

            He has earned the nickname Klepto Kitty because he has brought home over 600 stolen items. He has stolen all of these prowling the garden, and his record is 11 items in one night. He has been caught on camera carrying home a bra. He has stolen a total of 16 car wash mitts, 7 sponges, 213 dish towels, 7 wash cloths, 5 towels, 18 shoes, 73 socks, 100 gloves, 1 pair of mittens, 3 aprons, 40 balls, 4 pairs of underwear, 1 dog collar, 6 rubber toys, 1 blanket, 3 leg warmers, 2 Frisbees, 1 golf club head cover, 1 safety mask, 2 mesh bags, 1 bag of water balloons, 1 pair of pajama pants, 8 bathing suits, and 8 miscellaneous objects.

            I have never heard of anything like this before and it was interesting to find this on Wikipedia. This seems like something that would be covered online or on television as a one-off. The information is not useful unless it was a cat where I lived stealing things. Dusty is on a completely different coast then I am. Though it is interesting to see this develop in a cat, and not an animal that usually exhibits this quality or a human. This article was just something weird that had caught my eye and I narrowed it down to write about this particular subject. A cat that is an actual cat burglar is not something you hear every day.

There is a whole section of unusual articles that can be found on Wikipedia after all. I believe it was Dusty’s celebrity power that ‘earned’ him a Wiki page. Not only was this cat on Animal Planet, but he made it on Letterman. This is a pretty significant for an unusual cat. This promoted him into being a celebrity on a national and international level. People around the world know about this cat and his occupation. His owners also operate a social media presence that updates you on him and his treasures. In 2011 this was pretty significant.

            A Wiki page is a great spot for this article, but I think that it could have been shared elsewhere as well. We get a background of where Dusty is from, what he did, and what it has allowed him to become just from this one page. There were a few things that could have helped with a few pictures or a different approach to the story. I did not know what a Snowshoe cat is and it is not made clear anywhere on the page. I had to look it up and a Snowshoe is a crossbreed of a Siamese, bi-color American Short-hair cats, and other breeds. It might have been easier to include the information or have a different source take on Dusty’s story.

For the full Wikipedia page, you can go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_the_Klepto_Kitty