A COUPLE from the U.S. state of Washington said their normally “fat” and “lazy” cat channeled his inner hero when he helped foil a burglary at their home.

    Kerry and Barb Gansberg said their cat of 10 years, Strider, is best known around their Olympia home as a bit of a glutton and layabout.

    “Well, he’s fat and he’s lazy,” Barb Gansberg told KOMO-TV. “He’s kind of a pain in the rump.”

    The cat does understand some rules, the couple said, including staying out of their bedroom.

    Barb said that’s what made his behavior so suspicious Tuesday morning, when she was home alone and getting ready for work.

    “He sneaks into my bedroom,” she said. “He’s looking at me and I thought, ‘what the heck is wrong with you?’ and he sat right here [outside the door, in the hallway].”

    Barb said she could tell by Strider’s behavior that something was wrong, so she exited the bedroom and ended up face to face with a pair of burglars, one of whom was holding her purse.

    “So I just yelled, ‘hey’ and off they went,” she said.

    Kerry said the men made the right choice by fleeing. “It’s a good thing they ran off because she would have pummeled them,” he told The Chronicle newspaper.(SD-Agencies)