Woman marries her cat to circumvent rental restrictions

Deborah Hodge, a 49-year-old mother from London, married her cat India so landlords couldn't evict her for breaking their no-pets rule.

Hodge, according to the New York Post, was previously forced to re-home three other pets due to zero-tolerance regulations.

What are the details?

Hodge told South West News Service that the cat — a 5-year-old female tuxedo cat who lost a leg during a 2020 accident — is "fundamentally the most important thing in my life after my children."

“By marrying India, I need any future landlords to know that we come as a package and we cannot be separated under any circumstances as she is as important to me as the children,” Hodge explained.

Hodge and India married on April 19 at a public park.

“I recited vows under the universe that no man will ever tear myself and India apart,” she said of the unorthodox union. “I refuse to be parted with her. I’d rather live on the streets than be without her.”

What else?

Hodge was previously forced to give up three pets in a previous rental — two Huskies and a cat.

“It absolutely broke my heart,” she said. “Your pets become part of your family and it was just absolutely devastating having to say goodbye to them.”

Hodge said that she lost her job in March and is anticipating a new eviction as a result.

“I’m on my last pennies,” she admitted. “I’m terrified of losing India. I can barely leave my house with anxiety over what the future holds and I’m just desperate not to lose my cat.”

She said that the job loss motivated her to marry the feline so that any future landlords know that the two come as a package deal.

“I do not want to lose another beloved pet. I vowed in sickness and in health, in death do us part, and I meant it,” she said. “I don’t believe in organized religion; however, I do have faith,” she claimed. “India always came back, even after losing a leg. I am her universe and that is why I married her.”