A few months ago, a stray cat got inside Russia’s Vladivostok International Airport after hours and then promptly made her way into a popular seafood store. Once inside, she helped herself to squid, octopus and other high priced ocean delicacies. When the shop owner discovered what had happened, she was not happy. After adding up all the damages, broken seals, contaminated foods, clean up and other collateral damages the entire meal ended up costing roughly 60,000 rubles or about $1,000.00 American dollars.
An employee captured video of the feline perpetrator in action. The video went viral, and the mainstream media picked up the story. Concerned citizens flocked to the airport to help find the stray cat. Some people were worried that too much salty seafood could be harmful to the cat. Others worried about retaliation from the shop owner. In any case, the cat was in high demand and many cat lovers were offering to cover her unpaid dinner bill in hopes the shop owner would forgive her.
One of Russia’s most famous cat trainers Yuri Kuklachev even offered permanent employment to the cat, and said that he was more than willing to cover the outstanding seafood bar tab.
The story has a very happy ending; not only is the kitty alive and well, but she is now the mascot for The Admirals, the professional Ice Hockey team in Vladivostok.
Her name is now Matroska and she lives with the Admirals in their hockey arena. She will be in attendance for all the games and occasionally make personal appearances.
She was taken to the animal beauty salon and given the complete works, including a grooming, trimming and even a kitty mani pedi.
Matroska recently made an appearance on Pust Govoryat, a popular talk show similar to the Jerry Springer show here in America.
