Couple Calls Confused Neighbor A 'Cat Pervert' Because Their Animal Was In His Yard — 'You're Harboring My Cat'
Apparently, a cat strolling into your yard of their own free will makes you a 'cat pervert.'
Sergio Photone / Shutterstock; Twitter After his neighbor’s cat continuously began entering his backyard, one man never expected the reaction he would receive from them. Instead of apologizing or thanking the man for allowing their cat to hang out in his yard, they accused him of a crime that is most likely unheard of.
The man’s neighbor accused him of ‘harboring their cat,’ calling him a ‘cat pervert.’
A man living in San Diego, California took to Twitter to share a video of the bizarre incident where his neighbor berated him after his cat repeatedly managed to sneak into his backyard. According to the man, his neighbor’s cat, named Mercury, is a “very friendly outdoor cat” that enjoys hanging out in his yard. “The cat is free to come and go as it pleases,” he wrote.
However, his neighbors are not fans of their cat going into other people’s yards. “For some reason, they don’t like that and decided it’s my job to tell the cat where and where not to go,” the man revealed.
His neighbors decided to confront him, accusing him of “manipulating” Mercury by “befriending” her. When the confrontation escalated, the man started recording.
He later posted the footage to Twitter, where it has since received over 42 million views.
While the man tried to assure his neighbors that he was not intentionally stealing their cat, they did not want to listen to anything he had to say.
“You’re unreasonable people, you’re holding our cat!” the neighbor shouted. When the man asked him to explain how exactly he is hijacking the cat, the neighbor instructed him that he should have told the cat to “go home.”
“She’s a cat, she doesn’t speak English,” the man pointed out. The neighbor responded that he would call the police department and have them “figure it out.” The neighbor then proceeded to call the man a “cat pervert.”
“This dude has lost it,” the man said.
When the man noted that the cat was entering his backyard of her own will, his neighbor disagreed and claimed that he was “harboring” the cat. “There’s a crime about you harboring my cat,” the neighbor said to the man. “It’s against the law.” The neighbor eventually stormed off into his own house.
Twitter users believe the neighbor’s claims were absurd.
“How you gonna have an outdoor cat and try to control where it roams?” one user commented. “As a cat owner, he should know cats do whatever the heck they want,” another user wrote.
“Ha, ha, ha!!! Animals are good judges of character,” another user noted of the cat seeking shelter in her neighbor’s yard instead of her own.
Other users shared stories of their own neighborhood animals coming into their yards, and that their neighbors were completely fine with it.
“When I was a kid we had a cat that fell in love with an old lady who lived 3 doors down. She would brush him, feed him, and spend hours with him on her lap. She came and told us because she felt guilty but my dad just laughed and said if they were happy it was fine,” one user revealed.
“My aunt ran a horse farm. So did the neighbors. One of her four cats (at the time) ended up on the neighbor's doorstep, being run off by one of the other cats. The neighbors adopted her and she became their barn kitty,” another user wrote. “Cats are independent creatures. If they want to live with the neighbors, so be it.”
The man later shared that while his neighbors did end up calling the police, they “immediately hung up on them,” most likely confused by the term “cat pervert.”
As for the cat, she was back in the neighbor’s yard the very next day.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.