Beloved Barbershop Cat Kidnapped By Ransacking Burglars

LOS ANGELES, CA — A barbershop owner is recovering after his business was ransacked and the thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment — along with something irreplaceable: his beloved cat, Simba.

The theft occurred at around 2:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving when three men rammed a truck into LA Fresh Cuts at 1807 E. Florence Ave. The collision destroyed the front wall, door and windows, owner Joe Gomez wrote on Gofundme.

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The men exited the truck, ran inside the barbershop and grabbed any tools they cold find — along with a kennel that contained Simba, KTLA reported.

The incident was caught on video, which showed the robbers dropping the caged animal into the truck bed before driving away.

“When I saw the video, it was Simba I was looking at the whole time,” Gomez told KTLA. “I didn’t even care about the inventory they were throwing in the truck. It was just my cat, how he was acting and how they were treating him. That’s what got me the most.”

Gomez started a Gofundme with a goal of $4,000. He estimated the total cost of repairs and replacing stolen tools at $13,000.

But he said he believes the suspects intended to steal Simba and is asking anyone with information about the cat's whereabouts to come forward.