November 21, 2008

Driven by financial constraints, a man in Dallas unable to pay a fee threatened shelter workers with a bat on Monday, before driving off with his pet. (Pet Pulse Illustration by Tim Mattson)

DALLAS -- A once bat-crazy robbery tale has transformed into a far more sobering story of a cash-strapped man desperate to reclaim his cat.

Roger Booth, 59, threatened shelter workers with a baseball bat and fled a shelter parking lot with his cat on Monday, after failing to pay a required fee. Now that strangers have helped him settle his $132 debt, Booth hopes to settle what he deems a misunderstanding.

Booth, who is reportedly suffering from Stage 4 prostate cancer, says he simply couldn't afford the fee and didn't want to see his cat die in the shelter.

"I didn't want to go to jail, but I didn't want my cat to die, either," Booth said. "I took the chance because I didn't want him to die for ridiculously high prices."

Booth first located his missing gray and blue short-haired cat, Mr. Gray, at the Dallas Animal Services' shelter in early October, manager Kent Robertson told The Associated Press.

A neighbor had turned the cat over to the city, even though Mr. Gray reportedly was outfitted with identification tags.

Booth, however, didn't return for Mr. Gray until Monday, when he signed in at the animal shelter at approximately 11:30 a.m. Booth was then granted the cat, which he placed into an empty carrier case and loaded into his car.

At that point, shelter workers requested Booth pay a $132 fee, covering a rabies shot and microchip implant, as well as boarding fees.

Booth became enraged and drew a wooden baseball bat from his car, waving it and threatening shelter employees. He then retreated to his car, while still wielding the bat, and drove off wildly with the cat.

"This was pretty extreme," Robertson said.

The cat-crazed owner did not inflict any harm on the shelter employees or animals, though he almost ran over two people with his Ford-150.

"I haven't ever experienced this before," Robertson said in another interview with The Dallas Morning News. "Usually, people thank us for rescuing their animals. This was pretty extreme."

After news of Booth's medical condition -- and potential charges of aggravated robbery, as well as two counts of aggravated assault -- began to circulate in various media reports, Dallas Animal Services began to receive calls from people offering to settle Booth's debt.

"If the guy really, really doesn't have the money, I'll pay it for him; not that he was right for doing what he did," one caller reportedly told the shelter.

Strangers' kindness has now left Booth with one less worry to consider.

"Thank you very much," Booth said to his financial supporters, according to Dallas-Fort Worth News 8. "Look at this face?" he continued, gesturing toward Mr. Gray. "How could you put a needle in him and kill him?"

Though Booth remains under review by the police, he expressed a lack of intentional wrongdoing.

"I didn't rob a bank," he said. "I just saved my cat."

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The Associated Press, The Houston Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News contributed to this article.