Prolific cat burglar has been stealing neighbours' underwear in the night

Every night for the past two months, a cat burglar has been lurking in the streets of Claudelands in Hamilton, New Zealand, stealing mens' underwear and socks. Brigit, a six-year-old Tonkinese, has an oddball obsession with underwear, hauling a dozen boxer briefs and around 60 single socks. The obsession was largely unnoticed until her owner, Sarah Nathan, started packing her house to move.



"I pulled out the bag of stuff [that Brigit] had collected and thought, oh God, I wonder who these belong to?" Nathan said. "She would even bring them to bed, or put them in a pile next to the bed." But the obsession with undergarments is not a new thing. ​"She did this when we lived in Beerescourt and our neighbours hated us for it," Nathan said. "I would find the odd sock or pair of undies and would say to the kids, 'well who do these belong to?'.



"She would bring home kids things, like togs and kids underwear and stuff so I didn't keep those. And one time she brought home a shin pad that was bigger than her." Nathan said she thought most of the items belonged to one person. She said she had put notes in letterboxes in her suburb, but no-one had come forward. The advertisement was also posted online along with a photo of the cat burglar in question and her ill-gotten gains. On Sunday morning, after Nathan has posted about the incidents, a man said the underwear looked familiar.



"The underwear that Brigit's brought home lately have been a little worse for wear so she's probably taken all the good stuff," Nathan said. "These breeds of cat, she's crossed with a Siamese cat and a Burmese cat, are quite obsessive. It's just the fact that she's decided her obsession will be men's underwear." The Nathan family are moving to the country soon and her owner hopes Brigit will find another hobby. "Hopefully there's something there she can find to catch but if not we may have to stash some undies around the farm to keep her stimulated."