Guard Your ‘Cat’

Buellton is a quiet suburban bedroom community. Recently, there have been more break-ins and crime, including stealing a vehicle’s catalytic converter.

Catalytic converters (also known as “cats”) are being stolen because there are certain metals inside of the cats that are valuable. Palladium, one of the metals, goes for almost $2,500 an ounce. Cats also contain platinum, rhodium, and more. Known as rare metals, they help the cat to catalyze the oxidation of gases. As prices rise, so do thefts. It is the same for copper wire — if prices go up, so do wire thefts from empty or abandoned buildings.

This information should be shared to warn readers to be vigilant. Ring cameras work really well if your car is parked within detection range. Some people don’t lock their cars. The age of innocence is over. No one cares more about you than you.