Navarro the cat is safe and sound in his new home. 
 
 Rescued Sunday from a man who was preparing the cat as a meal, the 4-year-old feline was adopted Tuesday through the SPCA Serving Erie County by Vickie Dankowski of Cheektowaga. 
 
 "I woke up [Tuesday] and read the article in The Buffalo News and couldn't believe what I was reading," Dankowski said. "I said, 'I think I might want to adopt him.'" 
 
 When Buffalo police pulled over a car driven by Gary L. Korkuck on Sunday night, they heard a cat crying from inside the trunk. Officers investigated and found Navarro in a cage "marinating" in a mixture of crushed red peppers, chili pepper, salt and oil. 
 
 Korkuck, 51, of Cheektowaga, had adopted the cat from the SPCA in May. Korkuck allegedly told police the cat was "mean" to him, and he didn't want it anymore because it was "possessive, greedy and wasteful." Korkuck was charged with one count of cruelty to animals. 
 
 "We've heard of some really bizarre stories, but nothing like this," said Gina M. Browning, the SPCA's director of public relations. "It's clearly not someone who was in his right mind." 
 
 Navarro was turned over to the SPCA, and since his story appeared in The News, the domestic short hair has become somewhat of a local celebrity. 
 
 "The phone was ringing all morning," Browning said Tuesday. "Some people were checking on him. Others were asking if they could adopt him." 
 
 Dankowski went to the SPCA on Ensminger Road in the Town of Tonawanda at noon Tuesday to inquire about adopting Navarro, but a Kenmore woman was already first in line. 
 
 After talking to Dankowski, the Kenmore woman who already had two cats and a dog agreed to let her adopt Navarro. 
 
 Dankowski returned to the SPCA after work Tuesday to pick him up and take him home. "The timing was right," she said. 
 
 Dankowski, a deputy clerk for the Town of Cheektowaga, had two cats, but one died in March. She has been considering adopting a second cat as company for her 6-year-old female, Anna Belle. 
 
 "I got him home now, and he's just looking and exploring like crazy," she said Tuesday night. "He's really passive and not aggressive at all." 
 
 He has a new bed, a new litter box and a new name: Oliver. 
 
 "He's all black, but he has white under his chin, on all his paws and on his chest," Dankowski said. "They bathed him so many times to get the spices out, so he feels so soft. He's absolutely beautiful." ||||| Police say a traffic stop led to animal cruelty charges after they found a live cat "marinating" in oil and peppers in the trunk of a car. 
 
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 In this photo provided by the SPCA Serving Erie County, Navarro, a four-year-old cat found "marinating" in oil and peppers in the trunk of a car in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday night, is shown Monday, Aug.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Buffalo police say officers heard the cat meowing when they stopped 51-year-old Gary Korkuc of Cheektowaga to ticket him for running a stop sign Sunday night. 
 
 They say they checked the trunk and found 4-year-old Navarro in a cage, his fur covered with oil, crushed red peppers and chili peppers. 
 
 Police say Korkuc told them he did it because Navarro was ill-tempered. Korkuc was charged with cruelty and released; his phone number isn't listed. 
 
 Police say he told them he was going to cook Navarro. Korkuc also told officers a number of things that didn't make sense, including that his neutered male cat was pregnant. 
 
 Animal advocates have cleaned Navarro and put him up for adoption. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Information from: The Buffalo News, http://www.buffalonews.com
– A live cat was "marinating" in oil and peppers in the trunk of a car when Buffalo cops pulled the driver over for running a red light, reports the AP. Officers noticed meowing coming from the trunk, and found a 4-year-old cat named Navarro in a cage with his fur covered in oil, crushed red peppers, and chili peppers. The 51-year-old driver, Gary Korkuc, told police he planned to cook the cat because Navarro was ill-tempered, as well as "possessive, greedy, and wasteful." He also told them that the neutered male cat was pregnant. Korkuc was charged with animal cruelty and released; Navarro was given a bath at the SPCA and adopted yesterday, reports the Buffalo News.