Large exotic cat on the loose near Victoria is third African serval to escape on Vancouver Island this week

Another serval has escaped from its owner on Vancouver Island, this time in a community north of Victoria.

Sylvia Lammers says her large African cat briefly got loose from her Brentwood Bay home on Sunday night and then escaped again the following morning.

"She learned how to open the back door," Lammers said. "Initially this happened on Sunday and we got her back fairly quickly. We thought it was our error that we left the door open, not realizing that she had figured it out."

Lammers says she was able to lure the cat, named Cassia, back with treats. "Basically, I put prawns in a bag on a string and that's how I got her."

But the following morning, the three-year-old exotic feline escaped again while Lammers was at work.

The Brentwood Bay woman says her neighbour reportedly saw the animal around 10 a.m. Monday but Lammers has been scouring the area unsuccessfully since.

"She camouflages so well in this habitat," Lammers said.

DOMESTIC CAT KILLED BY SERVALS

Cassia is the third serval to escape on Vancouver Island in recent days after a pair of the animals got loose in Qualicum Beach, B.C., on Sunday. One of the pair is now back in the care of its owners and the other remains on the loose Thursday.

According to the BC SPCA, one or both of the escaped servals in Qualicum Beach was involved in the killing of a neighbour's domestic cat.

The agency says that servals are not listed in provincial regulations controlling animals from other countries, so they can be legally owned in some B.C. municipalities.

Exotic animals may seem like cool pets but they suffer in captivity& taking them from the wild can harm sensitive ecosystems. Tell candidates that you want a bylaw to ban exotic pets in your community: https://t.co/1o0tLDY6Tr #bcspca #exoticanimals #speakingforanimals pic.twitter.com/R74e0DHrrf

— BC SPCA / BCSPCA (@BC_SPCA) October 3, 2022

Lammers says that while domestic servals have different needs than most housecats, they are not the wild animals many people have made them out to be.

"They are domesticated," Lammers said. "It's not like she's been pulled from the tundra. She has many generations been raised – her ancestors – in domestic situations."

Lammers says she rescued Cassia from someone who was ill-equipped to care for the cat when it was six months old.

The Capital Regional District's animal control office told CTV News on Thursday it had not received any calls about the escaped cat in Brentwood Bay.

"My gut is that she isn't on the run and she's just hunkered down somewhere," Lammers said. "We've created a little scent trail for her. We've put out her litter pads at the end of our driveway in hopes that she will catch the scent and find her way back."