A Kitten Was Used In A Bank Robbery. She Has Now Retired From Crime.

Magnolia tuxedo kitten adopted

A man walked into a Pet Supplies Plus store on Baltimore Avenue in Beltsville, Maryland, made his way to the cat adoption area, used a nearby key to open the enclosure, picked up a three-and-a-half-month-old black-and-white tuxedo kitten named Magnolia, and ran. Surveillance footage shows him leaving the store clutching the kitten and heading straight across the parking lot to the PNC Bank in the same shopping center. Witnesses confirmed he ran directly there. Inside the bank, he walked up to the bank manager and asked the manager to hold the kitten. While the manager held Magnolia, the man wrote a note demanding cash and handed it to a teller. The robbery was unsuccessful. Prince George's County Police arrived quickly and took the man into custody. Magnolia was found safe in the bank manager's office, where the two had, in the words of the rescue organization Beltsville Community Cats, bonded over their shared ordeal. BCC president Stephanie Stullich was contacted by the pet store that morning, drove over, and arrived to find police cars and a very small kitten with a very large story already in progress.

The story went viral within hours and then went international. Stullich said that once Magnolia was safely recovered, the narrative shifted from potential tragedy to something that entertained millions of people around the world, and that everyone seemed to have a one-liner: some claimed Magnolia was the mastermind, others insisted she was innocent. BCC received 21 adoption applications, which Stullich said was no surprise given the circumstances. Magnolia has since been adopted by two loving parents and given a young kitten companion to play with. BCC's announcement of her adoption noted that Magnolia has retired from her life of crime and now spends her days reformed, enjoying toys, treats, and cuddles. Her new family confirmed this. Stullich said she hoped Magnolia's unlikely fame would draw attention to the broader need for people to adopt rescue cats and kittens: BCC has 60 to 80 kittens and adult cats in its care at any given time, and some wait in foster care for months simply because not enough people step forward. Magnolia got 21 applications in days. The others are still waiting.