Foreclosure victim: Princess Chunk, a fat cat

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A couple of people forwarded me links to the story of ‘Princess Chunk,’ a 44-pound white cat who has been wandering the streets of New Jersey, a victim of foreclosure. At first I thought it was some sort of news hoax, the kind of thing you would read in the Onion and forward to friends.

But it’s true. WNBC-TV in New York reports the cat -- real name ‘Powder’ -- ‘became a local media sensation this week and was dubbed ‘Princess Chunk’ -- since it was found on Saturday wandering the southern New Jersey suburb of Voorhees.... In a week with headlines about presidential politics, suicide bombings in Iraq and big baseball trades, the cat has also captured the nation’s attention.’

New York magazine: ‘The nationwide mortgage crisis has a new face: Powder, a.k.a. Princess Chunk, the 44-pound orphaned cat from Camden County, New Jersey. The tubby tabby’s elderly owner recently contacted animal-control officials — who, in turn, told WNBC — that she can no longer take care of him because she recently lost her home to the bank.’

The cat, by the way, is a male.

Now, go ahead and let me have it for jumping the shark, ruining the blog and journalism as we knew it by posting something so over-the-top irrelevant and frivolous. Go ahead, you want to.

--Peter Viles
Photo credit: John Costello / Philadelphia Inquirer