c/o Caroline Rosen
A neighborhood cat was allegedly stolen from an Upper West Side bodega while he was eating his breakfast this week.
Security footage reportedly shows that SoSo, a striped mostly black and gray tabby, was taken from Royal Convenience at 313 Amsterdam Ave. (between 74th and 75th streets) by a blonde woman who picked him up while he was eating his food outside of the shop. The woman fled and SoSo has not been seen since.
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Upper West Sider and cat lover Caroline Rosen, who visits SoSo almost every day, told ILTUWS that she went to the shop to see him Tuesday evening and was told by an employee he’d been taken.
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“He said ‘Are you looking for SoSo?’ And I said yes,” Rosen explained. “He said ‘I have horrible news.’ And he told me what happened. She grabbed SoSo when he was eating his breakfast and ran off.”
Rosen got to know SoSo last fall when he was the resident cat at another convenience store a few blocks away on Broadway owned by the same proprietors. He was just a kitten then, about nine months old. When they opened Royal Convenience on Amsterdam Avenue earlier this year, SoSo moved to the new store. He quickly garnered a following of doting fans, many of whom went to the store just to see him, said Rosen, who has a cat of her own named Ernie.
“People go there just to visit him,” she said. “They always buy a little something. Sometimes I buy some tea just to buy something.”
SoSo lives at the store, Rosen said, and his owners keep an eye on him at night remotely.
“They can watch him all night. He has his food and toys. They can see him playing in the store,” Rosen said.
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SoSo is very friendly, loves attention and loves to snuggle and have his belly rubbed, she said. “His dad, Ali, adores SoSo and is always playing with him, kissing him, petting him, etc. Ali calls SoSo ‘his boy’!”
As of writing, the NYPD doesn’t have any information but the store employee said a report had been filed.
“Everyone at the store is heartbroken and we are all hoping for a safe return,” Rosen said.
On the social media site Nextdoor, Rosen appealed to locals to let the store know if they happen to see SoSo and to tell whoever has him that he is loved by his owners.
“If anyone sees this cat, please let them know that he belongs to someone and reach out to the store or comment here,” she wrote.
We’ll provide updates as more information becomes available.
This is awful! I believe Soso is the sibling of Salsa the beloved bodega tuxedo cat at 87th and Amsterdam. I hope the footage enables the kidnapper to be found!
Is there a picture of the woman?
So Royal Convenience is a real bodega? It doesn’t look like one.
It looks like a thinly disguised unlicensed weed shop.
The catnaper was probably doing the cat a favor, or at least thought she was.
Jay strikes again. Well done.
The thief couldn’t go to a shelter and rescue a cat living in a cage? There’s a cat that lives in the pet store where I buy my pet food. He’s very popular, friendly and happy. Think about it, thief.
I think this bodega was raided and closed down by the NYPD. I went to see SoSo last night unaware of him being stolen and the store was bolted with a NYPD letter taped on the window. I really hope they get their cat back but haven’t seen enough on social media.