A police detention officer has gone on trial accused of stealing her neighbour’s cat.
Dawn Jowett, 61, is said to have taken Dora with her when she moved house after feeding her for 18 months.
Ms Jowett, who worked in the cells in Mansfield for Nottinghamshire police, said she had started leaving a bowl of food out for the ‘neglected’ pet because she was ‘constantly hungry, constantly coming to me miaowing, constantly covered in scabs’.
Jowett said she told the cat’s owner Joanna Richards that she was taking her when she moved out of her former home in Hucknall, on October 12, 2023.
But the court heard Ms Richards denied agreeing to relinquish her pet and went door to door trying to find her when she failed to return home.
Lincoln Crown Court heard she finally tracked her down to Jowett’s new house and visited her on November 17, 2023 to demand her Dora’s return but Jowett refused.
Police were called but it was decided that because of her vulnerable age Dora – now 15 – could remain with Jowett until criminal proceedings finished.
Giving evidence Ms Richards told the court Dora was named after the cartoon explorer after her previous cat gave birth to three kittens.
‘Dora is our family pet, our family cat,’ Ms Richards said.
She said Dora was an ‘outdoors cat’ who would be out most nights but would generally come home when her daughter returned from school around 3.30pm.
‘She would go out about 7pm or 8pm, and then come in early, about 5am or 6am,’ she told the court.
Ms Richards confirmed that Dora was microchipped under her name and registered to a vets practice in Hucknall.
‘She had a home, she was fed twice a day,’ Ms Richards told the jury.
‘I bought flea and worming treatment for her, and kept an eye on her skin.’
Jurors heard Ms Richards was aware her neighour had been feeding Dora and had asked her to stop as she was ‘getting to be a large cat’.
She said they noticed Dora was missing at around the same time their neighbour moved in October 2023, jurors heard.
‘We put food out, and thought it was strange she had not come back,’ Ms Richards said.
‘After a couple of days we had not seen her, she would often miaow on the windowsill outside, but we then thought something was wrong.’
Ms Richards said the family made searches for missing pets on Facebook and drove around the area looking for Dora, and after several weeks she learnt her cat was with Jowett.
‘Once I found out where Dawn moved to I did go to see her to try and get Dora back’, Ms Richards said.
‘I knocked on the door and said ‘we want Dora back.’
Ms Richards told the jury. ‘She (Jowett) refused.’
Ms Richards said she returned to the property with proof of Dora’s microchip but Jowett accused her of neglecting and mistreating the cat.
Under cross-examination from defence barrister Lucia Harrington, Ms Richards confirmed she had lived next to Jowett for around 19 years and said their previous good relationship had deteriorated when Ms Richards began a new relationship in 2022.
Ms Richards denied defence suggestions that she thanked Jowett for feeding Dora and had ‘lost interest’ in the cat.
‘Dawn did mention the cost of cat food for feeding Dora and I said “stop feeding her,” Ms Richards said.
Ms Richards accepted Dora would often be outside overnight in bad weather and that the family did not have a cat flap but she denied a defence suggestion that she stopped her flea and worming treatment because she knew Jowett was looking after the cat.
Jurors heard Dora received no treatment or annual check-ups from the vets practice in Hucknall where she was registered after 2018.
‘She did not need to be seen by a vet,’ Ms Richards said.
The defence claim Jowett spoke to Ms Richards on her drive a week before her move and told her that she was taking Dora.
Miss Harrington suggested Jowett informed Ms Richards ‘while I’ve got you now, just to let you know I’m moving next week, I’m going to take Dora.’
The defence said Ms Richards swore in her reply, saying ‘Do what the f**k you like with her.’
But giving evidence Ms Richards said the conversation did not happen
‘I never said Dawn could have her,’ Miss Richards said.
Jurors heard Jowett had spent 23 years working as a detention officer for Nottinghamshire Police and had received a long service award from the Chief Constable.
Giving evidence, Jowett confirmed she had no previous convictions or cautions, and said she had got on well with Ms Richards until her new partner arrived.
Jowett told jurors she had known Dora since she was a kitten but had noticed a deterioration in her condition in the three years before she moved.
‘She was constantly hungry, constantly coming to me miaowing, constantly covered in scabs,’ Jowett said.
‘Out all the time, no matter what the weather was, a bit feral, very neglected.’
Jowett said she began putting a bowel out to feed Dora and later the cat began staying indoors.
‘Technically I thought she was my cat, as far as I was concerned,’ Jowett told the jury.
Jowett insisted she was ‘never’ asked to stop feeding Dora and said she paid for all the food.
Jurors heard Jowett contacted the RSPCA about Dora and she ‘constantly’ spoke to Ms Richards about the state of the cat.
‘She just wasn’t interested,’ Jowett said.
Jowett, now of Kirkby in Ashfield, Notts, denies a single charge of theft on 12 October 2023. The trial continues.
