Cat shoplifted - CCTV shows woman putting cat in bag
Police are studying CCTV images which show a woman shoplifted a kitten from a pet shop by picking it up and putting it into her handbag.
Carol Ivory, owner of Albany Pets in Roath, Cardiff, said it was an "absolutely despicable thing to do".
She was so shocked by the incident that she has decided not to renew her licence to sell pets to the public.
The cat, who was being looked after for a friend, was taken on Saturday from a kitchen at the back of the shop.
"I think that it was an absolutely despicable thing to do. You don't think anyone would do that," said Mrs Ivory, 60.
"I was in the shop on my own at the time and didn't notice he was gone to start with."
She was looking after the kitten, called Little Boy, and its mother for a friend who is away on holiday.
The cats were in the shop's kitchen, which is off limits to the public.
The shop's CCTV footage shows a group of people including three children entering the shop and looking round.
A woman takes the kitten and gestures to her friend to giver her the handbag before apparently putting the kitten inside.
Mrs Ivory looked at the CCTV footage when the kitten went missing from its usual spot for a sleep.
"They both usually sleep out in the kitchen during the day and are on mouse patrol at night," she said.
"The thought of him being with them is just horrifying. He's a very nice quiet little kitten who doesn't stand up for himself.
"What are they going to do to him if he makes a mess on the carpet out of fright?"
She said she would stop selling pets because she felt she did not have enough security to protect them.
South Wales Police said an investigation was under way.