In a small police department in Riverdale, Georgia, 911 dispatchers received a call that led to one of the most memorable moments of their careers. They never expected that it would lead to a co-worker named “Pawficer Oreo”!
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Pawficer Oreo
In early May, Officer Harrison got a call about some tiny kittens that were found underneath a church.
An extensive search for the mama cat was done but even over several hours, sadly she did not return to her babies. Several church members took home fur-babies and Officer Harrison took one as well.
Dispatcher, Jennifer Johnson is known as the resident “crazy cat lady”, so Officer Harrison immediately brought the kitten to her for advice. Thanks to the countless number of Kitten Lady videos Jennifer has watched, she knew exactly what to do for the abandoned kitten. Because he was so tiny, he needed special supplies to provide the best care.
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Officer Harrison snuggles tiny Oreo and a blanket
The next day, a veterinarian confirmed the little boy was about 3-4 weeks old. He was thankfully in good health but still too young for any shots or vaccines. Officer Harrison took him home to her 3 daughters, who immediately fell in love with him and named him Oreo. The purrfect name for the black and white kitten who was sweet all over like an Oreo cookie.
Being so young however, Oreo needed to be bottle fed throughout the day.
When Officer Harrison had to return to work, she asked Jennifer if she would be able to “kittysit” during her shifts. Of course she agreed right away!
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Rescuing Officers stop by for feeding time
Within the first few hours of kitty-sitting, she realized that Oreo was a lot more alert than most kittens his age. Not being able to resist his cuteness, she began playing with him at her desk and snapping cute photos. Just about every officer that came through the center couldn’t resist the adorable kitten and would stop to play. He was an instant hit around the station; even by those that claimed not to be “cat people”.
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson
As Oreo played at her desk, he eventually learned how fun a keyboard can be.
Not thinking he even weighed enough to press down the keys, Jennifer was shocked when she looked at her screen and he had managed to type “AWWWWWWWWWZ”. She couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the kitten who obviously knew he was adorable enough to type it out.
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Screenshot of Pawficer Oreo’s typing test…PASSED!
Jennifer is a member of our Cole and Marmalade – I Love My Cats Facebook group. It was here that she couldn’t withstand bragging about him to the thousands of fellow cat lovers on the page. Thank goodness she did!
This is how we were gladly made aware of this heartwarming story and these pawsome humans. How many people get to say they spend their workdays helping humans AND darling kittens?!
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Lunch Break with side of kitty kisses
Not surprisingly, Oreo became a huge hit on the social media page.
Knowing he loved to type, Jennifer figured they may as well teach him to “dispatch”. Everyone loved seeing Pawficer Oreo typing and learning the phone system.
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; One determined little kitty face!
She gladly kitty-sat for 3 days straight while the tiny “Paw Enfurcement” trainee became an accomplished typist and skillfully attempted to answer the phones…that is when the cord didn’t distract him.
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Oreo “helping” take calls
Officers would stop by for a quick cuddle from the little guy too. One night, Officer Harrison had to stay late to finish reports. Another officer was playing with Pawficer Oreo when he fell asleep on her police vest.
Pawlice work is after all, very tiring for a little kitty!
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Time for a little “vest rest”
Even though Oreo’s training was only for a few intensive days, he left a large impact on everyone in the station.
On May 30th, Oreo’s mom Officer Harrison was involved in a horrible car accident while on patrol. She suffered some severe injuries but thankfully will be okay. Jennifer was sure once she gets out of the hospital, little Oreo will willingly change jobs & become “Nurse Oreo” to help her heal with snuggles & purrs.
Oreo’s dedicated fan following on Facebook sent over 350 comments of well wishes and encouragement to the officers family, friends and feline. We want to also wish her a speedy recovery and a THANK YOU to the entire department for their dedicated work helping the animals of their community!
Oreo wasn’t the ONLY cat that week to be taken in by the station!
Just a few days before, a beautiful tortie had shown up outside the building. She was very friendly from the beginning but due to the hours that they work, they had not had the time to get her to the vet to be checked out right away. They began feeding her, were able to bring her inside and she quickly made friends too.
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson; Loving indoor life
The 1st time Officer Harrison brought Oreo in the building, she was in here and at first meeting, she immediately began grooming Pawficer Oreo. She interacted with him and taught him a few things about being a cat.
No one had seen Oreo groom himself until she showed him. It was only about a week later that they realized that she is pregnant. All were certain the tortie’s maternal instinct was kicking in with Oreo, naming her Mama Kitty.
Now they are anxiously awaiting the birth of Mama Kitty’s babies.
Dispatchers and officers will help her raise them, along with teaching them to dispatch and do other police work. The plan will be to get them adopted out and one of our dispatchers has already decided to welcome Mama Kitty into her furever home.
The kittens haven’t even been born yet and we already have two officers that have said they want to adopt one of the kittens! One of them was previously not a cat person but between playing with Oreo and interacting with Mama Kitty, she has changed her mind.
Welcome to the crazy cat world!
Over the years, the dispatch heroes have found homes for a total of 10-12 cats and countless dogs.
They are proud to say they’ve only had to send one kitten to Animal Control, ONLY because he was very sickly and needed more vet care than they could provide. They frequently joke that there must be some kind of underground kitty blog out there that tells all the stray cats to come to their station because we will feed them and treat them like royalty!
Photo Courtesy: Jennifer Johnson
REMEMBER: ADOPT, DON’T SHOP; FOSTERING SAVES LIVES & SPAY AND NEUTER!
Related Story: Police Cat Receives Promotion After Coercing Confession From Suspect With His Therapeutic Purr
So proud of the Riverdale GA. police!
They truly are THE FINEST!!
I live in “the ATL” glad to have
them as my neighbors!
This story is so adorable! Love these kitties. <3
Nice, I love to hear happy stories about cats.
Many thanks to Officer Harrison and to the other officers at her station.
Good luck to Mama Kitty (she’s beautiful) and Oreo (He’s very handsome, too). May their furever homes and their humans always be blessed.
So wonderful! Those fur babies also provide great stress release for the officers. We all know the science there. So maybe it is Devine intervention that the furry ones keep showing up unannounced ?????
I want to quote Oreo on this one: awwwwwwwwwwwwwz :3
Just perfect quoting Oreo:
awwwwwwwwwwwwwz
Thanks to Oreo most all of the Riverdale department are now Cat ? People.
What a fabulous group of people! I think it is good for the officers and staff to have a soft and fluffy critter around to remind them of the good, soft things that still exist in this hard world.
Thanks to all those who save mistreated and unwanted cats and dogs. There are just not enuff of us to go around, But thrse of us who do, there is a Reward others will never know of.Bless you all!!!
It’s beyond wonderful that you are taking care of these beautiful cats! Just FYI, the latest veterinary advice is that kittens should be fed belly-down rather than lying on their backs, as this reduces the likelihood of certain potentially very serious health complications. Please check with your favorite experienced vet or cat rescue organization to confirm. All hail to you for your kind care for these little darlings!
That is true, no feeding on their backs.