Police Officer Parks Car in the Middle of the Road to Protect a Dying Cat

This is another heartwarming cat story. It is also a story which, I believe, promotes the image of the police force. We can tend to have an image of the police as being our masters rather than our servants. The image of the police force in the public eye can be worse than it should be for various reasons. It is nice to see a piece of news which helps to promote that image.

In this instance a cat had been hit by a car on a wide road (northbound lane of Route 28 in West Bridgewater, USA). A woman called the police to tell them what she had seen. Police officer Ken Thaxter of the West Bridgewater police force drove up to the cat in his police car, parked the car across the road with the car warning lights flashing. This protected the cat and allowed vehicles to pass either side of his car.

He felt that this was the right thing to do under the circumstances. He stayed there until the highway department arrived. I am sure that some drivers had thought that there had been an accident. The truth is that there had been accident but it had concerned a domestic cat.

This incident could have been dealt with in so many other ways. All would have been less humane and decent. Ken thought that he did the right thing. He did it instinctively. And it was the right thing but this sort of behavior hardly ever happens which made his actions commendable and noticeable.

One person who drove by was so impressed that she posted a message on Facebook which was then, of course, picked up by others, which in turn led to this news item.

Let’s think about it. Normally a cat killed on the road like this would have been left there. Perhaps at best somebody may have stopped their car with some danger to themselves and then placed the cat by the side of the road. It is the first time that I have read about a police officer protecting a dying domestic cat from oncoming traffic with his police car.

P.S. I have just noticed that Ken is on the website LinkedIn and that he is a school liaison officer and an expert in school security.

P.P.S. I am not boasting but years ago I did exactly the same thing (but no flashing lights) to protect a squirrel who had been badly injured. I placed the squirrel by the side of the road. He probably died there. I did not want to see him squashed by traffic.

Source: enterprisenews.com.