The peculiar case of the theft of two adorable Maine Coons kittens from a locked barn

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NEWS AND COMMENT: The story comes from Vernon, California, USA. Brent Comeau said, "My last two Maine Coon kittens were stolen out of my barn between the hours of 8 PM August 30 and 6 AM August 31" (2020).

He is convinced that the person came to steal his kittens because they knew exactly where to go and how to avoid the security cameras. The thief used bolt cutters to break into the barn.

He added that the two kittens were days away from being purchased and they were the last two kittens of two litters of kittens. One is male and the other is female.

Ostensibly 2 Maine Coon kittens stolen from a barn but they don't look like Maine Coon kittens!
Ostensibly 2 Maine Coon kittens stolen from a barn but they don't look like Maine Coon kittens! Image: Supplied.

He is asking anyone with information to call him and he provides his phone number online. He is offering a $1000 reward for the kittens' safe return. I've not published the phone number as this story is about 24 months old.

He received a tipoff about the possibility of the two kittens being offered for sale online but before he could take a screenshot the post was removed.

Comment

There is a couple of interesting and rather strange aspects to this story. The picture on the Internet of the two kittens (above) shows a couple of tabby cats. They do not look like Maine Coon kittens to me. They look like regular shorthaired cats. There is nothing in their appearance which indicates that these are Maine Coon cats. That's the first peculiarity.

Secondly, this man appears to be a Maine Coon cat breeder and if so, why was he keeping his kittens in his barn!? You don't do that unless it is a particularly nice barn which might be better described as a facility where breeding can take place. But that would be highly unusual.

Normally purebred cat breeders do all their work inside their home. They are hobby breeders as I'm sure this person is. To have a couple of cats for sale in a barn which implies a separate building from the breeder's home is strange particularly when the only security is a padlock on a chain. In terms of security that is simply unviable.

It doesn't stack up to me on several levels. I arrived at the story because I searched for any stories about the theft of Maine Coon cats. I had never encountered any stories in which Maine Coon cats had been stolen and wondered whether it ever happened. It must happen occasionally as the Maine Coon is very popular these days and they're valuable. And domestic animal theft is not uncommon.

However, it must be incredibly rare because Maine Coon cat owners normally keep their cats inside all the time and if they go outside, it's probably on a lead. In other words, they are supervised 24/7.

Along the same lines, it is very rare for Maine Coon cats to be lost. Both these aspects of Maine Coon cat caregiving support the concept of not allowing domestic cats to roam freely without supervision. But this is what I allow my cat to do and he does it safely because he's very smart about avoiding dangers but there are inherent risks quite obviously which I have to accept.

Source of story: Castanet.net. [link].

Location: Vernon, CA, USA

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