Dusty the Klepto Cat Gets 15 More Minutes of Fame

First Dusty was the star of a show on Animal Planet’s Must Love Cats. Then it was an ABC Channel 7 story. Then The Early Show, Fox and Friends, NPR, and Jay Leno. The Late Show even flew out the family of four to New York for a stint on David Letterman. Now Dusty will be leading Redwood City’s Annual Pet Parade.

The 10th Annual Pet Parade will take place on May 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with thousands of Peninsula residents bringing their pets to enjoy the all-day festival. The Peninsula Humane Society will also be there, hoping to find loving owners for some of their animals.

“We were jumping up and down, we were so excited.” said Parade organizer Ro Fischer. “Dusty’s a celebrity!”

Many rescue groups, vendors and music bands will gather in Courthouse Square, Fischer said. Animals of all sorts from ferrets to kittens to ducklings will march up and down the downtown area. And if those aren’t enough animals, there will be a petting zoo.

“It’s the ‘Happiest Day in Redwood City,’” Fischer said. “It’s also a great way to raise money for the Peninsula Humane Society.”

Festival go-ers can bid on items that Dusty got his paws on, with all auction proceeds benefiting the Humane Society.

“It makes it more special because that’s where we originally got Dusty from,” said Dusty’s owner Jim Coleman.

All of the bringing together of groups and organization has primarily been voluntary. Fischer said the event has always been run under the Parks & Rec Department. But with Gov. Jerry’s Brown , she said funds have been limited.

Dusty’s Story

Dusty is fond of roaming his San Mateo neighborhood at night in search of towels, gloves, socks, underwear, swimsuits, balls, bags, balloons, toys – really any loose object that he’s able to drag back to his house. On a slow night, he might steal just one or two items. On a busy night, close to a dozen.

“He’s just opportunistic,” said Jean Chu, his other owner.

The family lived quietly this way for years, with Dusty bringing things home and Chu washing, cleaning and stacking them to return to the neighbors. But two weeks ago, Dusty went big-time. On Feb. 12, Animal Planet aired a show about Dusty’s thieving ways, complete with night-vision footage of the cat dragging stolen items down the sidewalk. The oddball footage began circulating wildly on the Internet.

Things progressed quickly from there. Vic Lee, of ABC Channel 7, saw the Animal Planet spot and decided to do his own story. His local report turned out to be a runaway hit, and was picked up by ABC affiliates across the country. Brian Copeland called to talk about Dusty.

Then came calls from The Early Show, Fox and Friends, NPR, Jay Leno and David Letterman.

“I got a call from a radio station in Sydney, Australia asking for an interview,” Chu said, still amazed at the attention her cat has received.

Last week, the Late Show flew Chu, Coleman, their two daughters and Dusty out to New York for an interview with Letterman. They put the family up in a nice hotel with views overlooking Central Park, Chu said.

Dusty was a star, with several minutes of stage time in Coleman’s arms as Chu answered Letterman’s questions. Backstage in the green room, that night’s musical act, the rock band Deerhunter, wanted their picture taken with Dusty.

Though Chu thought maybe her cat could someday gain a little notoriety, she never imagined anything like this. Mostly she just chuckled at the new items strewn about on her lawn each morning.

A compulsive jotter, Chu has kept a record of every object Dusty brought in from the moment she realized he was doing it. So she knows, for example, that on July 20, 2009, Dusty brought in four towels, four socks, a small mesh bag, a potholder and a yellow glove. In all, she says, “I can list 550 some-odd (items), and I know there are others I threw away.”

Where is he finding all these things? Chu doesn’t know – maybe he’s entering detached garages, she theorizes, or neighbors are keeping the items in their back yards.

Whatever he does, he’s elusive about it: Before the Animal Planet footage, Dusty’s thefts were very rarely seen.

“I saw him once only,” Chu said. “I was sitting out in the front and he came in with a glove.”

Across the street, 5-year-old twins Michael and Lena Flocas talked cheerfully about some of the items that have walked away over the years.

 “We lost really a lot of stuff,” Michael said. “He took balls, stuffed animals, socks, shoes …”

“My mom’s underwear,” Lena interjected.

“But they were all cleaned, just like Chinese laundry,” Chu said. “They were all cleaned and folded.”

At first, just to put them someplace, Chu was bringing the items to in South San Francisco. One day, she looked around and said, “There’s a lot here!”

Patients started to get on her case, telling Chu, “It’s a mess here, when are you gonna get rid of this stuff?”

Since then Chu, Coleman and their teenage daughters – one attends and the other – have been working to cut back on the clutter.

Dusty’s activities aren’t helping. And there’s no indication he'll be cutting it out anytime soon.

“Dusty was always a character, right from the get-go,” Chu says.