Belle of Palmerston North brought the toy llama home one day. Photo / Supplied
Belle of Palmerston North brought the toy llama home one day. Photo / Supplied
Belle has turned the cat door on her namesake.
While Belle in The Beauty and the Beast was taken prisoner Palmerston North feline Belle is rounding up clothes and shoes that don't belong to her.
Belle lives in Gladys Pl in Kelvin Grove and her owner Raylene Calder has gonepublic with Belle's kleptomania hoping to reunite her neighbours with their property.
Belle is one of five siblings Calder was fostering for the SPCA. Belle, Lexi and Poppy are foster fails as Calder decided to keep them. Belle is daughter Addison Hollins' cat. Asked why she chose Belle, the 6-year-old replied "she was the cutest".
The kittens and their mother were found in a park in Whanganui and the family started looking after them in November 2020.
The family would leave jandals at the front door then find one of the pair at the cat door. Belle then progressed to sticks and leaves and started bringing neighbours' property home a few months ago.
Some of light-pawed Belle's haul. Photo / Supplied
Her haul includes shoes, socks, cleaning cloths, a pair of matching gardening gloves that arrived at different times, a toy llama, and a pen in the shape of a syringe. Somehow Belle got half a pool noodle through the cat door. She also leaves outside dog toys she has found for the two puppies Calder is currently fostering.
Belle was the first one in the litter to escape, the first to climb the cat scratcher. "She was the one with the most character and the mischievous one."
Belle is also fascinated with butterflies and one day chased one into the bathroom, knocking a ceramic vase that cracked the hand basin.
While being adventurous is one of Belle's traits she's not so keen on strangers taking her photo or even saying hello. The 15-month-old kept a low profile during the Manawatū Guardian's visit. "She's looking for more stuff to go in her bag," Addison said.
Belle thinks nothing of eating Jess' food and sleeping in her bed. Photo / Supplied
Belle likes sleeping in Rhodesian ridgeback Jess' bed. They either share or Belle just takes it.
Belle eats Jess' food too. The dog will just sit and watch waiting for Belle to finish. Jess will then eat what's left.
"She's a big cat compared to her siblings - she's a big tank," Calder says.
Belle keeps a watchful eye on her patch. Photo / Supplied
The charcoal-coloured cat has a big personality to match and will supervise Calder gardening - not flopped in a flower pot but perched on the soil around the plant, alert.
A neighbour has spotted Belle carrying a newspaper up their driveway. We can only wonder what Belle will do when she spots her photo in the paper.
