Cops Rescue Family From Irate 22-lb. Cat

Portland police got a very strange call Sunday: A family was cowering in a bedroom after their 22-pound Himalayan cat went on the rampage, the Oregonian reports. "It has gone over the edge," Lee Palmer told dispatchers. "He's trying to attack us—he's very hostile. He's at our door; he's charging us." The 4-year-old male cat, named Lux, had first scratched owner Teresa Barker's 7-month-old son on the forehead after the baby pulled the animal's tail. Barker's boyfriend Palmer then kicked the cat away from the baby, setting the animal off, KATU reports.

As Lux charged, the couple locked themselves, the baby, and their dog in a bedroom and called police, as the cat could be heard yowling in the background. Officers showed up with a dog snare and chased the cat into the kitchen; it jumped on top of the fridge, but the cops managed to force it into a carrier. No one was injured, and no word yet on what will become of the cat—who, Palmer said on the 911 call, "has a history of violence." Palmer says the family is "debating what to do." Adds Barker, "It's only funny when it's not happening to you. ... It was very frightening." (More strange stuff stories.)