Lewis Tayler has doorcam footage proof of a woman snatching his cat from outside his home – and of her taking Gus into her property, but says police are still to act two weeks on
A man who tracked down a woman he claims stole his beloved cat says she sensationally claimed to have believed it was a backpack when she snatched the £1,500 pet from his doorstep.
Lewis Tayler watched in horror as he viewed doorcam footage of a lady picking up three-year-old Gus and putting him into her car outside his home in Ashford, Surrey, on August 26. The NHS clinical practitioner lives outside a school and the woman was in the area dropping off her daughter.
Frantic Lewis was tipped off from someone who had seen his posters that they lived in a property three miles away in Feltham, west London – and he travelled to the road looking for answers. When he spoke to her neighbour and explained the distressing situation.
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He spotted they too had a camera at their property and was close to tears as he watched their footage of the women laughing and joking with two others as they took the cat into the house ‘holding him like a trophy”.
After reporting the matter and handing the clips to the police, he knocked on the door demanding answers. Incredibly, the woman says she thought the pedigree was a backpack before eventually admitting taking the animal back to their home after initially claiming she had “freed him” despite her concerns for the cat.
However, after being invited into their home, there was no sign of Gus – and they went on to claim he had darted when the child opened the back door. The woman’s husband eventually agreed to pay £900 for a pet detective to begin his hunt after accepting his wife should not have taken Gus.
“This has been one of the worst experiences of my life,” he said. “I still struggle to grasp why anyone would pick up a cat from outside its home and put him into a car. I watched it happen on my neighbours’ doorbell camera last Friday. It was as clear as day.
“I spent the whole weekend not eating, and not sleeping. She is a mother at the school so I had the hope that she would return. With the police not acting I put posters up and someone called.
“I didn’t want to go charging in, so I spoke to her neighbour after spotting they too had a camera. There it was, the woman taking Gus out of her car with two other woman laughing. They held him like some sort of trophy.”
“They gave me the footage. I calmly knocked on their door and I explained the situation to the husband and that I wanted answers. He invited me in. I looked for Gus but the woman, who was on the balcony with her feet up, denied it all. I said ‘well watch the footage’ as she just batted me away.
“She eventually told me she had let him out further up the road to ‘protect him’. I didn’t know what to say. I was just numb. She wouldn’t tell me where. She kept saying ‘do you think we can’t afford a cat… why would I steal yours?’ I told her husband the police are now involved and the severity of the situation.
“Eventually, they admitted my cat had been in their house and that he ran out of the back when their daughter opened the door. The husband offered me money but I wanted my cat back and I told them I wasn’t about to just go away.”
Lewis was in touch with a pet detective and hired Colin Butcher to take on the case. The animal expert convinced the husband it was the right thing to do to cover his costs but there was no luck, and owner Lewis was fast giving up hope – until the phone rung days later.
“I put down some clothes in their neighbours’ back garden hoping he would pick up my scent on the Friday and within a week he had recognised it,” he added. “His return couldn’t have been better timed – that was the evening of those horrible storms.
“Incredibly, I have still not heard from the police. If I would have left it to them like they said, he would not be home. The only thing that got me through it all was the constant support of the community, my friends and family and the neighbours that helped get Gus back.”
Surrey police told The Mirror: “A report of a theft of cat was made to police via our online reporting form on Thursday, 28 August. An investigating officer was assigned and an investigation launched. We have since received a report that the cat has subsequently been recovered and returned home, but our enquiries to establish the circumstances around this incident remain ongoing.”