--- title: Cat Traps Family in Bedroom Forces Them to Call 911 for Rescue description: Me-wow. canonical: https://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-11T19:08:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:41.907Z og:title: Cat Traps Family in Bedroom Forces Them to Call 911 for Rescue og:description: Me-wow. og:url: https://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8f36974b915cdbe/698684f713c79ff9d5190f93/screen-shot-2014-03-11-at-3-06-05-pm.png?branch=production&width=608&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 608 og:image:height: 342 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2014-03-11 at 3.06.05 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cat Traps Family in Bedroom Forces Them to Call 911 for Rescue twitter:description: Me-wow. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8f36974b915cdbe/698684f713c79ff9d5190f93/screen-shot-2014-03-11-at-3-06-05-pm.png?branch=production&width=608&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Crazed Pet Cat Holds Family Hostage and Forces Them To Call 911 For Rescue > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2f72e304-ba01-4288-b877-4d2d390d1ba1&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 11, 2014 7:08 PM UTC  YouTube by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 11, 2014 7:08 PM UTC Newsfeed frequently reports on the misuse of the 911 emergency number. For example, the woman who called 911 to complain that [her waffles were raw](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/25/florida-woman-calls-911-because-of-raw-waffles/). Or the man who called 911 to report that he was [low on beer](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/09/running-low-on-beer-tennessee-man-calls-911-for-that/). There are a lot of misuses of 911 in the United States. This is not one of them. A Portland, Or., couple called 911 for assistance when their 20-pound Himalayan house cat became crazed, started charging at them and their dog, eventually forcing them to lock themselves in a room. The four-year old cat named Lux attacked the Barker family’s 7-month old child. When the boy’s father kicked the cat off his son, the cat became enraged and started charging the family. The family and their pet dog — who is now undoubtedly the favored pet — retreated to a bedroom to protect themselves from the yowling assault cat. The couple tried to call Animal Control, [according to WBTV](www.wbtv.com/story/24936455/crazed-kitty-attacks-baby-forces-family-to-call-911), but got no answer, so they dialed 911 and with a hint of embarrassment in their voice and requested police assistance in capturing their furry foe. “He’s trying to attack us,” [Lee Palmer says on the 911 tape](www.wbtv.com/story/24936455/crazed-kitty-attacks-baby-forces-family-to-call-911). “He’s very, very, very, very hostile.” The cat’s yowls can be heard on the 911 tape, too. A police dog was enlisted to help capture the cat, who was then placed in a crate. “The cat remained behind bars in the custody of the family and officers cleared the scene and continued to fight crime elsewhere in the city,” the [Portland Police Bureau reported](http://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=4869). The family is now deciding what to do about their pet. **MORE**: [Me-wow! London Is Getting Its Very Own Cat Café](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/27/me-wow-london-is-getting-its-very-own-cat-cafe/) **MORE**: [It’s True: Liberals Like Cats More Than Conservatives Do](http://science.time.com/2014/02/18/its-true-liberals-like-cats-more-than-conservatives-do/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/"},"headline":"Crazed Pet Cat Holds Family Hostage and Forces Them To Call 911 For Rescue","datePublished":"2014-03-11T19:08:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:41.907Z","description":"Me-wow.","url":"https://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","animals","cats"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8f36974b915cdbe/698684f713c79ff9d5190f93/screen-shot-2014-03-11-at-3-06-05-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8f36974b915cdbe/698684f713c79ff9d5190f93/screen-shot-2014-03-11-at-3-06-05-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2014-03-11 at 3.06.05 PM","caption":"","creditText":"YouTube","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/20197/crazed-pet-cat-holds-family-hostage-and-forces-them-to-call-911-for-rescue/","name":"Crazed Pet Cat Holds Family Hostage and Forces Them To Call 911 For Rescue"}}]}] ```