Skip to main content
FlashPoint News
EntertainmentBritish Columbia, Canada

Cat Owner Distressed by Mysterious Calls for Lost Feline

Natasha Lavoie experiences a deluge of calls mistakenly referencing a missing cat, while her own feline stays safe at home.

By Rylee KirkSource: nytimes.com1 min read

In brief

In a bizarre mix-up, Natasha Lavoie’s phone number was mistakenly associated with a missing cat campaign promoting shirts that offered a reward for finding "Torbo," leading to a year of perplexing calls. As she sought answers from the t-shirt company responsible, the situation took a humorous turn, revealing the origins of the calls.

In 2024, Natasha Lavoie, a resident of British Columbia, Canada, found her life turned upside down with a barrage of phone calls referring to a lost cat named Torbo. However, Lavoie’s own cat, a black feline named Mauser, was safe at home, leading to confusion and frustration for her over the past year.The peculiar situation persisted until recently when Lavoie’s partner, Jonathan McCurrach, took it upon himself to confront one of the persistent callers who turned out to be playing a prank. The man explained that his son had purchased a t-shirt online, advertising a cash reward for the fictitious missing cat and inadvertently listed Lavoie’s phone number on it.The calls arrived at all hours, often in clusters, prompting Lavoie to contemplate the source of her unusual dilemma. "Initially, I thought maybe I had upset someone who was sharing my number publicly," she shared.Seeking clarification, Lavoie reached out to Wisdumb, the American company responsible for marketing the shirts, hoping to uncover how her phone number ended up associated with the faux missing pet campaign. This unexpected incident raised a lighthearted conversation about the impact of mistaken identities in the digital age, showcasing the community's involvement in both caring for lost pets and, inadvertently, disrupting the peace of active cat owners.

Topics

More on this story