94-year-old, Maria Assunta, who never had any children, left the fortune to her beloved kitty when she died two weeks ago. The alley cat is now “pussy galore” inheriting cash, properties in Rome, Milan and land in Calabria.
When Assunta started to get sick two years she began to find a way how to make sure her furry companion was properly cared for after she died. In November 2009, she wrote in her will that her entire estate and fortune would go to the alley cat.
Initially, Assunta had instructed her attorneys to “identify an animal welfare association or group to which to leave the estate and the commitment of looking after Tommaso,” according to the Daily Telegraph.
Unable to find the right association to see to it that Tommaso was loved and cared for, Assunta decided to leave all her money to the cat via her nurse, Stefania, who cared for her until her dying day. Her last name has not been disclosed.
“She had become very fond towards the nurse who assisted her,” Anna Orecchioni, one of the lawyers, told Il Messaggero newspaper.
“We’re convinced that Stefania is the right person to carry out the old lady’s wishes. She loves animals just like the woman she devoted herself to right up until the end.” Stefania told the Telegraph that she had no idea the woman that she was caring for was so incredibly wealthy.
“The old lady suffered from loneliness,” the nurse said. “She looked after that cat more than you’d look after a son.”
“I promised her that I would look after the cat when she was no longer around. She wanted to be sure that Tommaso would be loved and cuddled. But I never imagined that she had this sort of wealth,” she said. “She was very discreet and quiet. I knew very little of her private life. She only told me that she had suffered from loneliness a lot.”
Tommaso and Stefania, along with another cat, are living outside Rome at a secret location to avoid “kittynappers”.
According to Yahoo, the windfall for Tommaso places him No.3 on the list of wealthy pets, behind Kalu the chimp, whose owner left him $80 million dollars, and top dog Gunther IV, a German shepherd who inherited $372 million dollars from his father, Gunther III, the beloved companion of an eccentric German countess. Real estate magnate Leona Helmsley famously left $12 million to her little dog Trouble, although her human descendents contested, and Trouble’s pot was cut to $2 million.
Would you leave all your money to your beloved pet?
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