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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.
After a gradual decline in health, Aggie passed away in January of 2005. She'll be greatly missed by all.
© 1996-2003 lisaviolet
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