The cat's thefts have been so prolific and its tastes are so particular that one Woodend resident has lost over $500 worth of new shoes in the past couple of weeks.
"At first, we thought it was a teenager pranking us by stealing just one shoe but then, thanks to our security camera, we discovered the culprit was a cat," says resident David Stringer.
"He was so blatant about it.
"He just strolled up the drive and grabbed a shoe while I watched him on the monitor.
"I then chased him out on to the street, where I saw him go into a neighbouring property. There I found a whole stash of shoes hidden in their garden."
The large striped male tabby has become well-known to residents in the streets around Paget Drive and Welsford St as they discover just one shoe has been swiped when they go to leave their home.
"One neighbour lost a whole set of new Pumas," said David.
"We’ve lost Nikes and Adidas shoes, another neighbour has lost an expensive pair of new school shoes for their son.
"Others have had Crocs taken, and another of our close neighbours has had one of a pair of expensive hiking boots taken.
"But this tabby burglar desires only good clean shoes.
"If they are dirty, he’ll ignore them."
And where do all the shoes the cat is filching end up?
Several residents have discovered piles left behind trees or bushes in their driveways or back gardens.
Dave says they recovered most of their missing shoes, but others in the area are still missing a left or a right shoe from a pair left outside their door.
Another resident, Ray Phillips, said she has discovered piles of them behind the conifer trees in her driveway.
"Dave followed the cat one day and spotted him dropping them behind the trees on our property, so we went in search and discovered six single shoes and a child's toy bucket in my garden."
"That was in the morning and then the cat came back.
"We found it had placed a toy spade right next to the bucket. We have no idea where they are all coming from, but it keeps on dropping more items every day."
Ray said she has visited many of her neighbours as she tries to find the owners of the recovered shoes. But the purloiner of footwear is making this difficult as it is often seen jumping fences with shoes or jandals in its mouth.
"He must have strong jaws as a hiking boot isn’t lightweight," she says.
The sneaky thief has reportedly deposited 15 shoes, toys and only one matching pair in Ray’s garden over the past four weeks.
And his work continues, as he often has the cheek to revisit the site of previous burglaries to take yet another shoe from victims.
Kitty Kingdom in Rangiora says animal experts all over the world are unable to pinpoint exactly why cats steal shoes, clothes and objects and bring them home or pile them up in hidden places.
Dave says the water pistol he bought is deterring the feline burglar from trespassing, but he has moved all his family's shoes indoors for safekeeping.
