Dusty the Klepto Kitty was a domestic

Snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

who gained notoriety in early 2011 for his acts of " cat burglary". As of his February 2011 appearance on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'', Dusty had stolen 16 car wash mitts, 7 sponges, 213 dish towels, 7 wash cloths, 5 towels, 18 shoes, 73 socks, 100 gloves, 1 pair of mittens, 3 aprons, 40 balls, 4 pairs of underwear, 1 dog collar, 6 rubber toys, 1 blanket, 3 leg warmers, 2 Frisbees, 1 golf club head cover, 1 safety mask, 2 mesh bags, 1 bag of water balloons, 1 pair of pajama pants, 8 bathing suits, and 8 miscellaneous objects. He earned the nickname Klepto Kitty after bringing home more than 600 items from the gardens he prowled at night. His owners say his record theft is eleven items in one spree. He has been caught on camera carrying home a bra.

Early years

Born on March 20, 2006, Dusty is a

Snowshoe cat The Snowshoe is a breed of cat originating in the United States of America in the 1960s. Snowshoes were first produced in Philadelphia when a Siamese breeder's cat gave birth to three kittens with white feet. The breeder, Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty ...

who lives in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

. He was adopted from the

Peninsula Humane Society The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) is one of the largest humane organizations in the United States. Located in San Mateo County, California, it is a private non-profit charitable organization. It is an animal rescue (including wildlife ...

by Jean Chu and Jim Coleman. His first two years of life were uneventful, but in 2008, his owners began to notice household objects that did not belong to them appearing in strange places, and they began to suspect that their cat was bringing them home, a suspicion that they were eventually able to confirm.

Notoriety

Although his thievery began in 2008, Dusty didn't really receive notoriety outside of his neighborhood until the

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

show ''

Must Love Cats ''Must Love Cats'' is an Animal Planet television series hosted by John Fulton which premiered in the United States in February 2011. In each episode, he travels through different parts of the United States and explores various aspects of the cat ...

'' aired a profile of him in February 2011. The "Must Love Cats" crew was able to set up a motion-triggered

night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vi ...

camera and catch Dusty in the act of bringing home his spoils. The Animal Planet report led to a February 14, 2011, story by Vic Lee of

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV maint ...

of San Francisco, and Dusty's appearance on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' on February 22, 2011.

Cultural relevance

Since his appearances on Letterman and other national news outlets, Dusty became a minor national and international celebrity. He has appeared at many community events in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and has made appearances on many national and international news outlets. He served as the

Grand Marshal Grand marshal is a ceremonial, military rank, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "marshal" with the first usage of the term "grand marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders. ...

of the

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a po ...

Pet Parade in May 2011, and appeared at a fundraiser for the

in June 2011. Because of the kitty-cam footage for the Animal Planet documentary, Dusty's behavior became a bonus feature in a three-minute short on the DVD release for the 2011 movie ''

Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for hi ...

''. It is entitled ''Klepto Kitty''. Because Dusty was an adoptee from the Peninsula Humane Society animal shelter, he made a celebrity appearance at their annual adopt-a-thon in June, 2011. Some of his unclaimed stolen items were displayed and sold. To keep his fans up to date with his finds, his owners maintain his Facebook page and provide pictures of the items that Dusty brings home.

References

{{Reflist
"RIP 07-15-2006 (adopted) — 03-14-2023"
Facebook

Early years

Notoriety

Cultural relevance

See also

References

Further reading