Sledgehammer-wielding thieves raid Archway cat cafe Whiskers & Cream and steal safe
The armed burglars prepare to steal the safe. - Credit: Archant
This is the terrifying moment two masked burglars break into a Holloway Road cat cafe with a sledgehammer before stealing the safe.
At about midnight on Thursday, just ten minutes after staff had left Whiskers & Cream in Archway, burglars used a battering ram and broke through three doors, stole the safe and smashed up the cafe.
The eight cats, five of which are rescues, were not harmed during the robbery and managed to scurry off and hide.
CCTV from the cafe, obtained by the Gazette, shows the pair get out of a black car in tracksuits with scarves over their faces, smash their way in and head straight for the safe, which they manage to steal after smashing it with a sledgehammer.
Owner Kay Allen said: "The cats are so clever, amazingly they didn't go out but hid in places we wouldn't have expected.
The front door of the cafe, which was smashed in during the raid. - Credit: Archant
"They are scared and were very jumpy but luckily they weren't harmed."
The burglars kicked in every single door and broke through a wall to get to the safe, which Kay said was hidden and not in an obvious spot.
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They also smashed a fancy £600 cat litter tray she had recently purchased.
Police were on the scene in under ten minutes and woke Kay up at home to notify her of the break in. No arrests have been made.
The burglars managed to steal the safe after smashing the room up. - Credit: Archant
Kay said the emotional damage was far worse than dealing with the stolen items.
She said: "The mess they've made is horrendous."
She is hoping to get repairs done over the weekend and open the cafe again on Tuesday.
The cafe which charges a £10 adult entrance fee and £7 for children under 11 opened in November.
The burglars make off with the safe. - Credit: Archant
Kay was a service manager at an in-patient mental health NHS trust in Hounslow for more than 20 years before switching careers to open the cafe, and said the feedback so far had been positive.
"People are excited to have something different, something smart," she said. "We only use high quality locally-sourced foods, everything is from Hackney and Islington, and people really seem to appreciate that and that we're doing something different on the high street."
