DISPUTE ABOUT CAT

Northern Advocate, 6 December 1935, Page 4

DISPUTE ABOUT CAT

WHOSE IS IT?

PUSSY IN COURT

PLAYED WITH MAGISTRATE,

[Special to '"Northern Advocate”} ' AUCKLAND, This Day. “This matter has all the elements of an international case. The cat is a Persian* the woman charged with the theft is the Maori wife of a Chinese storekeeper, the woman who now claims the cat is from Lancashire; and she says it was, presented to her by a young New Zealander.” So said Mr J. J. Sullivan, who defended Mrs Eva Kem, charged in the Police Court this morning with stealing a cat worth £5, the property of Margaret Lee. For over an hour, Mr W. R. McKean, S.M., Sub-Inspector Scott, Mr Sullivan, a sergeant and constable tried to decide whether the cat was a little over one-year-old or whether it was three years, also whether it was “Tim” or “Tony.” For the time being the Court ceased to be a stern tribunal—it looked more like a cat show with the magistrate as the judge. For the greater part of the hearing the beautiful grey cat, which was remarkably tame, sat or played with Mr McKean on the bench. A number of demonstrations were made With the cat, which early in the proceedings went fast asleep on Mrs Kern’s lap alongside her small ‘son, who sucked away contentedly at an ice cream. Mrs Kem, for whom Mr Sullivan appeared, denied the charge of the theft of the cat. Mr.McKean said he would adjourn the hearing until this afternoon, so that a veterinary expert might examine the cat and decide its age. “The only doubt I have is that this cat is a little over three years old,” he said. “It looks to me much younger. If the veterinary man says the cat is three, well then, that decfidas the whole matter,” During the luncheon adjournment the cat was kept in custody in the court orderly’s room.