Cat blamed for gas smell, turning on man's stove
Posted: May 27, 2014 - 2:39pm

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A man whose Pittsburgh apartment filled with a natural gas smell says a cat is to blame. Patrick Bookout says this is the second time in several months that he's discovered the stove was turned on -- by a cat climbing onto the stove looking for food. In the process, Bookout says, the cat's paw must hit a burner knob. Nobody was hurt, and the gas smell dissipated after Bookout's upstairs neighbors smelled the gas and called 911 Monday morning. Arson investigators were checking out the incident. But Bookout says the cat "runs out of food because he's a little piggy. And he hops up on the fridge and when he jumps up he has to hit the stove." Bookout says he plans to remove the stove's knobs when he leaves the house.