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BLIND AGATHA AND THE BURGLAR
by
Mesha
Another true adventure of the blind but amazing Agatha
the cat.
From the evidence we were able to find, we have pieced
together this scenario of what happened. This is a
true account of this event. We obtained information
from the police as to the profile of this criminal
and his method and manner of activity which included
how he probably looked over the house before a robbery.
It was a cold night in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
The snow had begun to lay a soft blanket of white upon
the ground. It was three a.m. and the neighborhood
was silent. Our two story home was warm and cozy, the
windows tightly shut against the winter air. My husband
and I were asleep in the upstairs bedroom unaware that
an event was unfolding, outside in the tiny alley that
separated our home from the next door house.
The man had decided on the side window of the house
that was located in the small alley. There were no
other windows from which he would be seen and it was
unlikely anyone would walk down the sidewalk and glance
into the dark alley at this time in the midddle of
the night. It was the best way to enter undetected.
He had all the things ready to enter and rob the residence
with. He was fairly confident that they did not own
a dog because he had cased the house during the day
and had not seen any evidence of a dog.
He probably preferred two story homes because that
meant he could plunder the lower level without being
detected. That was where the TV, VCR and other valuables
usually were. He also would go up to the bedrooms and
check for cash and jewelry as well as credit cards
after he had removed the items from the first floor.
So far in his crime spree in the area, no one had ever
woke up as he was in the bedroom, but if it ever happened
it was unknown what would happen.
He carefully removed the screen, then pushed the window
up slowly. It did not open smoothly and it was apparent
that it had not been opened very often. He shone his
flashlight into the room briefly to make certain the
floor was clear. Nothing was blocking the window. He
vaguely noticed a large seven foot tall cat tree that
was positioned partially in front of the window, but
it still gave him plenty of room to climb in face first
without making any noise. He never noticed the large
calico cat who had been intently listening to the sounds
of the screen being removed, then the window being
opened. Aggie was crouched inside a rug covered tunnel
in the cat tree and decided that something about this
was not quite right. In fact she had decided she didn’t
like the sneaky way the window was opened, she didn’t
like the cold air pouring in and she especially did
not like the smell of this strange person who was standing
just outside of HER window!
Every bit of her fur was standing straight out. Her
whiskers were pitched forward and her ears were straining
to catch any sound. Her body was tense. She was ready!
The robber had stacked up two cinder blocks to stand
on. He quietly eased one leg through the window, then
stuck his face in as he gripped the sides of the window
and prepared to slide into the room.
In that brief instant of quiet as his face was coming
through the window, Aggie acted. Aggie attacked, leaping
on the man's face with her enormous claws scratching
and clawing. Her teeth sank into his face. The speed
with which she acted totally took the man by surprise.
He had no idea what had happened to him in the instant
his face was attacked. He fell, screaming in terror,
backwards out of the window. He couldn’t see
clearly because of the blood pouring down his face.
The cinder blocks were knocked over and his shoe still
dangled in the window where it had come off and had
caught in the window.
He was up in an instant and running for his life. He
still had not put together what had actually happened
but the lights were on upstairs now and he only wanted
to escape. Off he ran with one foot in a shoe and one
foot in a sock.
My husband and I were awakened by the blood curdling
scream! What in the name of heaven was that?? We both
bolted upright in the bed. My husband turned on the
light. As we both got up and went to the stairs we
were unsure of what to do. My husband whispered that
maybe we should call the police. However, the scream
had sounded like it was outside the house so we decided
to go down the stairs quietly and look out of the window
to see if someone was out there.
As we crept down the stairs and into the dining room
we could see that the window was open! We turned on
the light and there in the open window was a shoe.
My heart was pounding as my husband dialed the police.
Then I noticed Aggie. She was fluffed up larger than
I believed was possible. She was turned towards me
and her tail was swishing back and forth like it did
when she was really happy about something. How odd!
Why would she be happy... as I came over to where she
was she chortled at me in her sweetest voice. She was
really proud of herself for some reason.
I looked at her white paws. She had something on them,
why it was blood. Oh no, had she hurt herself? There
was blood on the cat tree, too. Not a lot, but it was
clearly blood. I noticed a tiny amount on the window
sill too. By this point, it was becoming clear to me
that Aggie had attacked the robber as he tried to enter
the window! What a cat!
When the police got there and they checked out the
alley, they found the odd foot prints left by the robber.
(One sock print, one shoe print). The policeman just
stood there shaking his head as a big grin spread across
his face. He agreed that it did appear as if our cat
had stopped the robber from entering the house.
Aggie was strutting all around the room as I told her
what a brave cat she was! The policeman gave her a
couple of pats on her head and told us this was a story
he’d never forget! He told us about the amount
of recent robberies that had been happening in the
area. He also said that this robber would not go to
a home that had a dog. He added that he’d probably
think twice about one with cats now, too. We all laughed
but later I must admit that it was frightening that
a robber had almost gotten into our home; except for
the brave actions of Aggie!
How she knew to attack him is a mystery. She has never
scratched a person in her life except for that incident.
Thus ends the true saga of how Aggie saved us from
a robber! Pretty amazing for a blind cat!
by Mesha
PS - Aggie did get extra treats for a long time after
that!
Update after the event: About a month later a robber
was arrested for selling stolen property & he had
terrible scratches on his face. We couldn't ID him
since we had not seen the man that memorable night.
There was no way to connect him to the attempted breaking & entering
of our house but it was certainly strange that he had
all those scratches on his face! (The nice policeman
had called us and told us about this.) The robber was
asked if a "lion" had attacked him...he was
also told that a "poor little blind kitty" had
attacked a robber in Mechanicsburg... did he happen
to know who that robber was....? Of course he never
admitted anything but apparently word got around and
the police as well as fellow criminals teased him unceasingly
about it! He got the nickname of "attack cat Jack".
(We found out his first name was Jack.) Wonder if he'll
ever live that one down.... in any case, he was sent
to prison for another charge and is no longer robbing
homes.
(note: After a gradual decline in health, Aggie passed
away in January of 2005. She'll be greatly missed by
all.) |
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