With 9 Lives, 3 Legs, Cat Helps Police

LUMBERTON, Texas - No badge, no gun, but he has a lethal bite.

Typically, many people think of a canine as a police department pet, but not for one Texas town.

In Lumberton, a three-legged cat that helps to serve and protect.

"Several years ago he drew a little blood from our JP, but they have reconciled since then." says Lumberton Police Chief Danny Sullins.

That's right, the cat attacked the Justice of the Peace.

Jade has been a fixture of the police department for 10 years.

So how did a three legged cat end up at the police station?

"This lady comes in and wants to give us a cat," says Sergeant Troy Knight.

"It had gotten up in her engine or something, and had hurt it’s leg and (she) wanted us to take the cat and she lived out in the county."

Sgt. Knight says since the cat lived outside the city limits, the police department could not take it in and hand it over to animal control. Complicating the issue, the cat had a seriously injured leg.

When the woman was leaving the building, she lost hold of Jade and he scurried up into her car engine.

The police chief at the time helped the woman remove the cat from the car, and a big heart got the best of him.

The chief agreed to adopt the cat, paying for its leg to be amputated and nursing it back to health.

Ten years later, the whole town chips in for the little guy's food, cat litter and toys. In return, he works his own beat.

"I've seen numerous times someone sitting right here across from my desk and their faces are red and their fixin’ to tell me about something that happened in their life and the cat jumps up in their lap and totally redirects them," says Chief Sullins.

"In the morning sometimes when we change shifts at 5 o'clock, it will come visit," says Sgt. Knight.

There are no chips on these officer's shoulders, just a little cat hair, maybe.

"I think the cat's had more stories than any of us," says Sgt. Knight.

"It'd be awful empty around here without him." adds Chief Sullins.