Meet Leonardo da Pinchy, the Thieving Cat

Most cat owners dread their pets bringing home mice or birds. But for the owners of one felonious feline in New Zealand, there's a worse shame—being the unwitting accomplice to an unstoppable one-cat crime wave. His prolific laundry-pinching from clotheslines and bedrooms in the beachside neighborhood of Mairangi Bay has turned 15-month-old Leo into a local celebrity and earned him a new moniker: Leonardo da Pinchy. His frequent hauls include silk boxers, thick men's work socks, and, in one mortifying episode for his humans, a brand-new $181 cashmere sweater. "My daughter ... rang me at work saying, 'It's bad, it's bad, this is the worst thing he's brought in," Leo's owner, Helen North, tells the AP. "Because it was beautiful. I was like, 'Ooh, can I keep that?' But I couldn't."

Instead, North turns to a neighborhood WhatsApp group to return Leo's stolen goods to their owners. Her usual message: "Are these your undies?" On one record-setting day, Leo returned with nine items, enough for a full outfit if you didn't mind a mix of everything from baby clothes to menswear. "He brought in a jersey this morning at 10 past 8," North said. "The shops hadn't even opened." The ire that North expected over Leo's cat burgling antics didn't materialize—although one of his targets, who's allergic to cats, now dries her laundry indoors. "All of our neighbors think he's amazing," she said. "Some of them are quite put out that he hasn't actually stolen anything of theirs."

Still, North has tried everything to curb her cat's laundry obsession, from keeping him indoors to leaving out clothes at home for him to steal. No luck. "He only wants stuff that he shouldn't have," she said, adding that she was also unwilling to risk an online suggestion that Leo simply needed another playmate. "He might teach another cat to do this," North said. Leo's life of crime began when he was first allowed outdoors a year ago. His family, however, hopes it's just a juvenile phase. "I hope he grows out of it because I don't want to do this for, like, 15 years," North said. "This is a lot of admin." For now, on the streets of Mairangi Bay, Leonardo da Pinchy remains at large.