An 11-year-old cat ran a weekly scam at a UK restaurant for free dinners until staff caught on and sent her home with evidence taped to her collar.
Story Snapshot
- Tula, an 11-year-old house cat, became a weekly regular at a Toby Carvery restaurant, begging food from unsuspecting diners
- Restaurant staff discovered her routine scrounging operation and attached a humorous note to her collar exposing her secret life
- The August 2020 incident went viral after Tula’s embarrassed owners shared the story on social media
- The clever staff response turned what could have been a nuisance into free positive publicity for the restaurant chain
The Weekly Grift Nobody Noticed
Tula perfected her con over multiple weeks at an unnamed Toby Carvery location in the UK. The crafty feline timed her visits to coincide with peak dining hours, working the tables like a seasoned panhandler. Customers assumed she was a stray or perhaps the restaurant’s unofficial mascot, slipping her bits of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Her owners had no clue their pet was moonlighting as a professional beggar until restaurant staff blew her cover with a note that read something to the effect of “caught you again.”
When Staff Become Food Detectives
The Toby Carvery employees noticed the same cat appearing week after week, displaying the kind of calculated persistence that separates amateur moochers from professionals. Rather than shooing her away or calling animal control, staff opted for creative justice. They attached a note to Tula’s collar and sent her packing, transforming a minor pest problem into a moment of genuine humor. The approach demonstrated more wit than most corporate policy manuals would ever approve, and it worked better than any stern warning could have.
The Viral Aftermath Nobody Expected
Tula’s owners discovered their cat’s double life when she returned home wearing her shame like a scarlet letter. Instead of keeping the embarrassment private, they shared the story online, where it exploded across social media in August 2020. The timing proved perfect as lockdown-weary Brits craved lighthearted distraction from pandemic news. Toby Carvery scored invaluable free advertising without spending a penny on marketing consultants, proving that sometimes the best PR comes from simply having a sense of humor about uninvited dinner guests with four legs and no shame.
The incident reveals something deeper about the relationship between British communities and their local establishments. Toby Carvery restaurants serve as gathering spots for families seeking affordable roast dinners, the kind of places where regulars know the staff and small dramas become shared experiences. Tula inserted herself into this social fabric through pure feline audacity, exploiting the generosity of strangers who couldn’t resist those pleading eyes. The staff’s response acknowledged the humor without creating conflict, maintaining goodwill with both customers and the cat’s mortified owners.
Why This Story Refuses to Die
Four years after Tula’s exposure, the story continues appearing in UK cat news roundups and social media compilations. The tale endures because it captures something universally relatable about pet ownership—the dawning realization that your animal leads a secret life beyond your surveillance. Cat owners reading the story likely wondered what their own pets do during unsupervised outdoor hours. The incident also plays into the British cultural affection for cheeky animals behaving badly, a tradition stretching from Beatrix Potter to countless viral pet videos.
No follow-up reports suggest Tula reformed her ways or that Toby Carvery implemented anti-feline security measures. The story simply exists as a perfect capsule of pandemic-era internet culture—wholesome, requiring no complex explanation, and infinitely shareable. Unlike contentious news that divides audiences, a greedy cat getting busted for restaurant fraud offends absolutely nobody. The staff showed common sense by handling the situation with humor rather than heavy-handedness, proving that not every problem requires a formal policy or stern intervention.
Sources:
Sneaky cat returns home from Toby Carvery with hilarious note around her neck – Proper Manchester
