Jasper is a kleptomaniac cat who runs a solo crime ring in Christchurch.
He steals so much from his neighbours in the seaside suburb of Sumner that his family have set up a Facebook page for locals to know where their belongings — mainly socks — have disappeared to.
The feline felon started stealing when he was just six months old. He’s six now and brings home up to eight socks every single day. His owner Mette Kristiansen-Benge has noticed one sock in particular keeps returning, “this one, this really amuses me, the [brand] Stolen sock”.
1News asked her if she thought Jasper could read, to which she laughed, “I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a very smart cat”.
Neighbour Rhian Roberts was one of his regular victims.
“I suppose we all appreciate the single sock phenomenon but in our house just over there it was taking on a whole new level,” she said.
The kids in his family, Edward and Harriet Kristiansen-Benge, think he’s quite proud of his ill-gotten gains.
“I don’t think he should feel proud of it,” Edward said.
Harriett laughed: “Jasper is very proud of being a famous cat, I can tell by his little grin”.
Russell Benge’s mother loves Jasper’s antics so much that she’s written a children’s book all about him.
Russell said he’s brought the family a lot of joy, but perhaps “not so much joy to the people who have lost their socks”.
The other measure they’ve taken, is to put a box at their front gate, with an apology printed on top. At the moment it contains over 150 unclaimed socks.
However, Jasper seems unrepentant, and even before 1News had stopped filming he was casing out the scene of his next burglary.
