crime

Tochigi man arrested for shoplifting animals from hardware store to feed to his cat

11 Comments
By SoraNews24

At around 1:55 p.m. on Aug 28, Takashi Fujita, 69, was attempting to leave a home improvement center in Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture while carrying a total of seven unpaid-for items valued at 11,700 yen including some mosquito coils, a parakeet, and three hamsters.

That might seem like an odd shopping list for a trip to the Home Depot, but in Japan it is not an uncommon practice for home improvement stores to also deal in a wide range of pets from puppies to parrots.

A 53-year-old clerk spotted the elder gent and confronted him. In the ensuing struggle, Fujita is accused of inflicting injuries to the clerk, such as scratches to his thumb, but still the clerk managed to apprehend him and turn him over to the authorities.

Fujita now faces charges of robbery resulting in bodily injury which he denies on the grounds that he intended to pay for the items afterward. 

The real mystery, however, is why he choose to steal the pets — including an animal with the capacity for crying “help” no less. Luckily, the police wondered too and asked Fujita, who casually explained that he was going to feed them to his pet cat.

The suspect’s motive was met with both horror and disbelief from the internet at large.

“Gross!”

“He’s lost it.”

“Most home improvement centers do sell cat food too.”

“Was he planning on cooking them first, or does he like carcasses lying around the house?”

“Maybe he’s an aspiring magician but was too shy to admit it.”

“Even if the guy was going to pay for it, it should still be a crime.”

“Who thinks he was planning to eat them himself?”

“Just buy the cat some chicken.”

One lingering question remains whether he went in with the intention of getting the animals for his cat, or was he in there for the other stuff and the parakeet just happened to catch his eye, causing him to think, “You know who would really like that?”

Source: Yomiuri Online, Itai News

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Japanese man shows us the best thing to catch while playing Pokémon GO: Your lost cat

-- Japanese netizens can’t stop balancing stuff on their pets, but this birdy and kitty aren’t amused

-- Totoro made me do it! Man says he was inspired to shoplift by Studio Ghibli anime classic

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

11 Comments
Login to comment

I guess it's better than chopping off the heads of kittens, as has done before, or his own cat.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The cat is the true loser in this story.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Segador - Well, i really hope someone takes care of the cat. I hate to think of the cat abandoned alone in a house somewhere, unable to leave and diying of hunger.

No need to worry about the cat. It will be taken to a shelter and euthanised within a fortnight.

Thi8s old joker has definitely lost the plot. I hope his sentence includes some kind of mental counselling.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Well, i really hope someone takes care of the cat. I hate to think of the cat abandoned alone in a house somewhere, unable to leave and diying of hunger.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Well, the cat's out of the bag on his particular hamster skeletons in the closet.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"Fingers" Fujita won't be feeding his cat anything from his jail cell.

Let's hope someone else does while he's away.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

He was going to feed his cat mosquito coils?

"Fingers" Fujita won't be feeding his cat anything from his jail cell.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

In the ensuing struggle, Fujita is accused of inflicting injuries to the clerk, such as scratches to his thumb

That's new.

Fujita, who casually explained that he was going to feed them to his pet cat.

The suspect’s motive was met with both horror and disbelief from the internet at large.

Gee. I wonder why..

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites