Police Rabbits Replacing Police Dogs?
An orphaned bunny was adopted by the police department in Yuba City, California, and became the first ever rabbit wellness officer.
Police dogs have played an intricate part in law enforcement for the past few decades now. They spend their days out on the beat solving crimes with their extraordinary ability to sniff out criminals and contraband. How could it be that after all their commitment and dedication to serving their communities now, they have a police rabbit moving in and trying to usurp their role on the force as news coming out of Yuba City, California might suggest?
According to AP news, “Officer Ashley Carson — found a lost rabbit last year in the middle of Percy Avenue in Yuba City, California. Carson scurried back to the police station and handed the rabbit over to animal control.” After animal control put in an exhaustive effort to locate any family members, owners or next of kin they abandoned all hope of being able to find this rabbit’s rightful home. That is when one of the police service analysts took a liking to the precious bunny and decided to adopt it.
Not only did the rabbit that they named Percy gave their new owner feelings of joy to be around the bunny it also was an uplifting presence for the entire police force. Yuba City is located about 40 miles north of Sacramento and is mostly a rural farming community with expansive fields of crops. The police department identified a role that they felt Percy was the perfect bunny for the job.
They have been promoted to the rank of wellness officer and have become the first rabbit to join a law enforcement agency in an official capacity as a police rabbit. The timing of the announcement couldn’t have come at a better time of year as it was a few days before the Easter holiday. AP News attempted to reach out to the Easter Bunny for a comment about his feelings on Percy’s rise to prominence, however, he was unable to be reached by the news agency.
Whether that was because he is preoccupied with a well-deserved rest because of the busy weekend he had delivering all those colored eggs and chocolate goodies to Christian children around the world or because of a brewing jealousy of Percy’s headline-grabbing announcement just days before his annual big day. We will have to wait and see if it is the beginning of a rabbit rivalry for world bunny supremacy or the beginning of a dynamic partnership to bring joy and security to the hearts of millions.
Nonetheless, Percy spends his days lounging around the Yuba City Police Department Headquarters and on the Yuba City Police Departments Facebook page they posted, “Officer Percy lounges at the police department during the day and is a support animal for all.” Will rabbits eventually take on a more active policing role and overtake police dogs’ jobs? The current feeling on that issue is the probability of that occurring is highly doubtful.
Now that Percy has broken down the barrier and shown it is possible to become a police rabbit. It may inspire other rabbits to attempt to achieve similar success especially since they now have their foot in the door with a law enforcement agency. It could be the beginning of a trend with departments across the nation employing rabbits in wellness officer positions, but we will have to wait and see how this Percy experiment unfolds.
