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Rodney the cat was adopted by the Marton ITM building supplies store a few years back and was a regular at the checkouts, soaking up pats from customers.
Last week the tabby cat vanished, but after a concerned customer started digging around it was revealed a manager at ITM had taken Rodney out to a remote country location and left him there.
A customer told Checkpoint she was told Rodney was "set free" because having him in the building was an insurance issue.
As a result some customers have pulled their business and store staff have received death threats.
The ITM branch has now publicly apologised. Lisa Owen asked store owner Rob James what happened to Rodney.