Officer Thomas Rugg couldn’t leave the animal shelter without Penny after she crawled onto his shoulder

After responding to a complaint last month, a police officer from Harrisonburg, Virginia, carried a pet home.

Officer Thomas Rugg arrived in July to a report that a cat had been tossed from a car onto a street in Harrisonburg. The caller brought the cat home, bathed it, and picked it up. They asserted that they were unable to keep it or deliver it to the Rockingham Harrisonburg SPCA. He agreed to take the cat to the shelter, Rugg said to WHSV.

Rugg explains, “She was under a couch. She instantly crawled onto my shoulder, sat there like a parrot, and began purring as soon as I reached under and grabbed her.

The kitten refused to release go of Rugg’s hand as she attempted to deliver it to the RHSPCA. The animal sanctuary even posted an Instagram picture of the kitten, Penny, perched on his shoulder.

According to the Harrisonburg Police Department, Rugg found the shelter was almost at capacity after the cat positioned herself on his shoulder. In order to foster the kitten, he requested an application.

“This little darling was brought into the shelter this week as a stray by Officer Ruggs [sic]. On July 14, the workers of the shelter revealed, “She was perched on his shoulder from the time they stepped in the door, but from the moment they met, she had already made her way into his heart.

“I just felt like she wanted to be with me,” Rugg said, adding that he had always thought of himself as a dog guy. “Before that, I never saw myself owning a cat.” However, the cop did not give off that impression to Penny, and the two “just kind of bonded immediately,” as he put it. “And I just knew that I had to take her with me.”

Rugg remarked that Penny was “super scared” when they first met, but she is now “super active.” In order to make his abode secure for the curious kitten, Rugg even had to reorganize everything.

The animal has also improved Rugg’s quality of life. She undoubtedly improves my days and aids in my relaxation. He told WHSV that she was fantastic. He will “be careful” not to answer too many calls about cats, though, because “otherwise I’ll have a house full of cats.”

The adoption of an animal that a police officer has saved is not unique to Rugg. Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma discovered five pups abandoned at a service station in December 2021. According to a Facebook post by the Tulsa Police Department, the officers were “overwhelmed with Christmas feelings” and decided to adopt four out of the five puppies.