A brazen group of feline thieves smashed their truck right into a South LA barbershop, breaking in and making off with the proprietor’s beloved $2,000 Savannah cat.
Three masked males rammed their pickup truck into the storefront round 2:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The “heartless” thieves had been caught on surveillance video hauling the frightened feline, Simba, out of the barbershop in its cage and right into a tan Toyota pickup truck.
“I had no turkey, I had no ham, I had no urge for food,” mentioned the cat’s proprietor Joe Gomez, who discovered in regards to the theft at 7:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day from certainly one of his barbers.
“They stole our household store Savannah cat together with all our barber machines and merchandise,” mentioned the store’s Instagram web page.
“The burglars’ intentions had been to steal the cat,” mentioned the put up. “We simply need our cat SIMBA again. Materials stuff comes and goes,” the put up learn.
Savannah cats are a uncommon breed, comprised of half domesticated cat and half wild African serval. Early generations of the noticed tabbies might be value as a lot as $20,000, based on a Savannah cat breeder in North Carolina.
Gomez, a self-proclaimed cat lover, saved as much as purchase a Savannah cat for years and at last acquired Simba a yr and a half in the past. He believes the robbers stole the cat considering it was value far more. “I feel they got here to take him as a result of they thought he was value so much and will promote him,” Gomez instructed The Submit.
“However his worth to me is priceless, he’s my cat,” Gomez mentioned. “I take him on walks across the neighborhood and to Griffith Park. He was my child,” Gomez added.
Savannah cats are extraordinarily clever and are recognized to typically learn to open doorways, activate taps, or flush bathrooms, based on The Worldwide Cat Affiliation.
Simba was savvy as effectively and is aware of learn how to open the latch on his cage, Gomez instructed The Submit. He’s hoping Simba will likely be sensible sufficient to flee his captors, run away, and get acknowledged by a Good Samaritan.
Within the meantime, he worries that Simba will likely be too loud for the robbers to deal with. “He’s additionally very loud. That’s my concern as a result of they’re going to mistreat him when he’s making these noises, and harm him to make him quiet,” mentioned Gomez.
Gomez has been staying on the store because the break-in to ensure the remainder of his store isn’t looted. “This store is all the things to me. It feeds my household,” he mentioned.
“I feel these individuals don’t have any coronary heart. They don’t care about how different individuals really feel,” Gomez instructed The Submit. “It’s devastating that this occurred,” Gomez added, however mentioned it made him suppose in another way about Thanksgiving.
“It makes me grateful for the shoppers I’ve. I didn’t know I used to be so appreciated in my neighborhood. I’ve 700 shares, and it makes me really feel grateful that they’re all serving to me discover him,” mentioned Gomez.
Whereas the Sheriff’s Workplace took a report on Thanksgiving Day, they haven’t been in contact since. In the meantime, Gomez is working with personal eye Moses Castillo, a retired detective, who has used the robbers’ license plate quantity to trace down an deal with for the suspects.
“I’m simply ready for a detective to name me so I can provide him the data I’ve,” mentioned Gomez. Whereas he waits for the decision, Gomez is mourning his buddy.
“I noticed a man with a canopy on his [car] seat and it mentioned ‘cat,’ and I began to tear up. You realize when you’re lacking somebody, all the things reminds you of them,” Gomez instructed The Submit.
Gomez has a GoFundMe to lift funds to restore the enterprise and assist find Simba, with a objective of $4,000. The web page already has thirty donations amounting to $1,355 raised.
“We’re heartbroken by this violation of our enterprise and residential. The theft of our automobile, our beloved cat, and the instruments we use to serve our shoppers has left us devastated. We’re grateful for the neighborhood’s assist and ask for assist in bringing these accountable to justice,” Gomez wrote on the GoFundMe web page.
