A guest staying at a holiday rental property has kidnapped the host’s neighbour’s cat and refused to return it, claiming the pet was being neglected.

James Wakefield, 70, took the tortoiseshell cat, Nubbins, when he left the holiday let in Sonoma County, California.

In a three-page letter to Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, Mr Wakefield said he had originally assumed the feline was a stray as it was “hungry, thirsty and cold”.

He alleged Nubbins showed signs of mistreatment on her tail and upper lip, and that he only discovered she was owned by the property’s neighbour, Troy Farrell, after taking her to the vet and finding she had been microchipped.

Despite the evidence that she already had an owner, Mr Wakefield took Nubbins with him when he left the holiday property after the Thanksgiving weekend in November 2021.

Mr Wakefield wrote that he was “never going to let that cat get put back in the living condition she was in without a fight”, adding: “You can be assured that your 70-year-old catnappers will do everything in our ability to protect her.”

He was ordered to return Mr Farrell’s cat but refused to relinquish her, and she’s believed to still be living with him 740km away in Irvine.

Mr Farrell denied all claims of neglect, telling local news reporters: “She has so many people who take care of her.

“She doesn't want to be an indoor cat. She doesn't want to be stuck in a house.

“She just likes to be out and about doing her thing because that's how she came out.”

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