New ‘morale officer’ was found in the road
Officer Katie Close has been bringing bunnies to the Healdsburg Police Department for quite some time to provide stress relief and comfort to staff and victims alike. Close breeds Rex rabbits and all of the rabbits at HPD have been from her breeding program. (See our story on the first police rabbit HERE.)
As Close was driving home from work two weeks ago, she decided to take the scenic route.
“I needed to clear my head after work, so I took Old Redwood instead of the freeway,” she said. “And I was thinking that Fancy, the rabbit I’d had at work recently wasn’t really working out. And as I’m thinking, ‘I need to find a different rabbit for the station,’ I see this white thing dash out in front of my truck.”
Close says at first she thought it was an opossum, but when she got a closer look at it, she realized it was a small, white, lop-eared rabbit. She jumped out of her truck and approached the rabbit, who didn’t run away when she approached. She grabbed for him, but didn’t get a firm grip and he bolted for the bushes. But he soon reappeared and hopped to the middle of the road again.
“So I pulled my truck over and got my flashlight — and it was a terrible spot, by the way, on this blind curve — and I called my husband and said, ‘I’m going to be late, I’m trying to catch a rabbit.’ And he was like, what? You’re where? Don’t get hit by a car!’”
After a few more attempts, Close was able get hold of the little rabbit and put him in her truck. “I kind of stunned him by shining my flashlight in his face,” she said with a laugh.
She soon identified the rabbit as a Holland lop, also known as a mini lop. Though she doesn’t know how old he is, he is a mature male, and is white with silver gray points. His fur was matted and he had several foxtails burrowing into his skin. In addition, his ears show older damage, with both missing large pieces out of them. Despite those issues, the rabbit was immediately friendly and tractable, and made himself at home.
“I wish he could talk,” Close said. “I’d love to know his story. He’s happy to be handled and snuggled and he’s got a great little personality.”
Settled into his cage in the dispatch center at HPD, the newly christened Officer Speedy (for “speed bump”) takes his duties seriously. He’s mellow and friendly, and is happy to be held and petted. But, he also has a playful side, playing a kind of “fetch” with his jingle ball and keeping everyone smiling with his antics.
Close reported him as found to Sonoma County Animal Services, but at press time no one had come forward to claim him. Close is having him neutered and his cage now bears his official title: “Chief Morale Officer.”
The irony of finding Speedy is not lost on Close. “What are the odds that a rabbit person would be driving on that road that night?” she said. “And what are the odds that it would be a person that at that moment would be thinking ‘I need to find a rabbit for the office’ when he ran out in the road?
“But I’m also glad I didn’t get hit by a car, because that would have been ironic too,” she said with a laugh.
