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She's The Cat's Meow: Klepto Kitty 'Collects' Nearly A Thousand Items From South Coast Neighborhood

Juno the Klepto Cat in her cat cave in Carpinteria. She's pilfered nearly one thousand items from her neighborhood in the last two years.
Connie Geston
Juno the Klepto Cat in her cat cave in Carpinteria. She's pilfered nearly one thousand items from her neighborhood over the last two years.

Juno the cat has become a celebrity, with social media accounts tracking her adventures.

The South Coast is home to a burglar who has stolen close to a thousand items during the last two years. But, she’s still walking around free. In fact, she’s become sort of a celebrity with even her victims amused by her antics.

For two years, Juno the Klepto Kat has been roaming her Carpinteria neighborhood, bringing home everything from gloves, to socks and old t-shirts. And, if there’s any question as to whether she deserves her Klepto nickname, she’s brought home nearly a thousand items.

"Astroturf, toy dinosaurs and she loves, loves gloves. She has almost 180 gloves," said Connie Geston, her owner.

Geston says the story started six years ago, in 2015, when she adopted an orphaned kitten. Fast forward two years later, Geston says something mysterious started occurring.

"In 2019, I started noticing things in my backyard. A ball, a glove. I was thinking the kids next door were throwing things over the fence." said Geston. "So, I was throwing them back over. But I would find those things back in the backyard. I kept thinking it was the kids... the kids, and I never thought it was the cat."

But, one day the Carpinteria woman solved the mystery, when she caught Juno dragging a pair of infant leggings into the house.

When she realized her kitty was actually a cat burglar she loaded up some of the items in a kids wagon and went door to door in the neighborhood. But, neighbors said Juno's items were things they had thrown away. And, some had actually seen Juno in action dragging things through the neighborhood.

Juno the Klepto Kat has a daily routine. Geston says she’ll go out at five or six in the morning and scout the neighborhood. She’ll come home and sleep until early evening. Then, she’ll go out and bring back items that she apparently saw earlier in the day.

Juno has her own little space where her collection is stored. It's a tent in Geston’s backyard. The inside of the tent is covered with wire racks displaying hundreds of Juno’s “finds”, which have been meticulously catalogued by her owner

Juno has become a bit of a celebrity, with social media accounts highlighting her activities, and even a run for Mayor of Carpinteria. One of Juno’s latest projects with her owner is to take some of the recycled items and use them for an entry in an upcoming Carpinteria Art Center Art Show.

Geston says its wonderful that Juno’s exploits are bringing a smile to some people's faces.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.