Cat burglar has become prolific sock thief

A real-life cat burglar with a penchant for stealing socks has left her owner a little embarrassed. Marion McComb, from Arbroath, is at her wits’ end after her eight-year-old cat Patch developed an obsession with socks. Instead of the usual unwanted gifts brought home by most moggies, the 78-year-old regularly receives footwear.

She said: “She brings in all sorts of things like key rings still in the plastic, bits of paper and there is the odd wee animal like you’d expect but just recently, over the past several weeks, she’s been bringing me nothing but socks. Single ones, pairs, of all kinds - and some of these look like they are just off the line.” Mrs McComb is red-faced as she suspects near neighbours, perhaps the same ones each time, are missing things from their washing line or laundry baskets.



“She’s my granddaughter’s cat that I kept while she was on holiday,” she added. “She had a litter and it was just easier to keep her. This is all happening during the day, as she comes in at night.” Patch is not especially smart, she said. “The only thing she does is run away from the dog.” Mrs McComb has been keeping the pairs of socks in a bag and hopes to be able to return the contents of her acrylic archive to their rightful owners.

Animal psychologist James White said: “There’s a hunting element to each cat’s forays out into the field, and this one seems no different in that she brings things back to show her owner what she’s been up to. A consistent change to an animal’s behaviour often denotes a change in external factors. However, it’s likely she’s just discovered how much fun socks can be and will move on in a short while.”