A cat in China accidentally turned on the induction cooker in its owner’s kitchen and set the home on fire, causing more than 100,000 yuan (Rs 11,67,641) in damages. According to the South China Morning Post, the cat’s owner got a phone call on April 4 from the property management staff in her compound, saying her home was on fire.
The owner Dandan rushed back to her flat in southwestern China’s Sichuan province and realised that the cat was responsible for the fire. The cat named Jingoudiao was simply playing in the kitchen, and accidentally stepped on the induction cooker’s touch panel, turning it on. The blaze burned the entire first floor of her loft.
Later, firefighters found the golden British Shorthair cat hiding in a cabinet upstairs, covered in ash but not injured.
After the incident, the cat’s owner changed its Douyin account name to ”Sichuan’s most badass cat”, and made the pet appear on live-streaming sessions to ”compensate.” She joked that she was making her cat ”work to pay off his debt” by appearing in live-streaming sessions, and even put a label on him saying ”arsonist”.
A few days later, Dandan posted a letter of apology online, signed with her fingerprint and Jingoudiao’s paw print. She admitted that it was her fault as he forgot to switch off the power to the cooker, and vowed to pay attention to fire safety in future.
Her amusing posts went viral, attracting a lot of interest and comments from fellow pet owners. One user wrote, ”Thank you. I just switched off my electric cooker. I have a naughty cat who goes everywhere in my flat.”
Another commented, ”My cat just keeps flushing the toilet, leaving me to pay big water bills.”
A third added, ”I just wanted to cook my mum dinner.”