Russian tax collectors are seizing cats as collateral

That's cold, Siberia.

Tax collectors in Russia have apparently discovered a good way to get people to pay off their debts — by threatening to seize their cats, BBC News reports. Local news sources have reported on several instances in which the felines were eyed as collateral when their owners refused to pay up.

In Novosibirsk, a student reportedly owed about $200 in unpaid taxes, and bailiffs arrived to seize anything of value. They couldn't find anything, except for the man's British Shorthair cat and its kittens.

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"Because the animals are pedigree and expensive, the representative of the law decided to place the cat brood under arrest," a statement from the region's court marshal's service read.

The man paid up, his cats were returned, and the bailiffs headed out, off to search for the next collateral kitty.