‘Raise your right paw.’ Judge swears in ‘Pawfficer Donut’ as official police cat

Watch out, criminals - there’s a new hero on the force looking to take a bite out of crime. And her name is Pawfficer Donut.

The kitten was officially sworn into the Troy Police Department’s “Feline Unit” as a police cat on Friday. In a solemn ceremony, judges Kirsten Nielsen Hartig and Maureen McGinnis asked Donut to raise her right paw and take an oath to be the best police feline she could be, and to always strive to be “brave, honest, strong, inquisitive, diligent ... and tolerant of the K9 unit.”

Among her duties will be “cuddling when called upon,” raising awareness about adopting animals and performing community outreach for the police department, according to the judges and MLive.

The story began when the department issued a challenge on Twitter in March: if they got to 10,000 followers, they would choose an official police cat. Eight days later, they smashed the goal (they now have nearly 13,000).

“We are using social media to engage the public that we serve and to get the message out that police are human, too, and we want to show we have a side of us that is beyond law enforcement,” Police Chief Gary Mayer told MLive.

The police department “interviewed” five cat candidates for the position at the Michigan Humane Society before deciding on a gray and white kitten named “Pawffiicer Badges.”

But then tragedy struck. Badges was diagnosed with feline leukemia, a contagious and serious infection that can spread to other animals. “As a result of this diagnosis, the kitten will not be able to perform her duties as a sworn pawfficer with the department,” the Humane Society wrote.

“I’m surprised how sad I am about this. Even though ... we see all sorts of upsetting things, this cat really touched our hearts and a lot of other people too,” Troy police Sgt. Meghan Lehman told ClickOnDetroit.

The department wrote on Twitter that it was moving forward and would choose another candidate who had been “vetted” at the humane society. It was from that litter that the Pawfficer Donut was selected.

The department has already seen a lot of interest in their new recruit. They’ve received mail (including a full police cat uniform) and say “Where is the police cat?” is one of their top 3 most-asked questions.

“We are very excited about a police cat coming to Troy PD!,” Sgt. Meghan Lehman told the Detroit Free Press. “The Twitter campaign has shown us that there is immense support for cats in law enforcement. Seriously, we think this will continue to help us connect with the public and also help promote the adoption of shelter pets.”

This story was originally published May 14, 2018 at 10:33 AM with the headline "‘Raise your right paw.’ Judge swears in ‘Pawfficer Donut’ as official police cat."