@nswpolice/TwitterThe story of a homeless man and his rat has gone viral after police reunited the 59-year-old with his beloved pet.
Chris is well-known in his hometown of Sydney, Australia, and is often seen alongside his rat, named Lucy, who can always been found by his side.
Lucy disappeared a month ago however, as Chris just nipped to the toilet. He assumed she had been stolen, and put up notes to see if anybody had found her.
The New South Wales police put a call out on social media to try and locate the missing pet, and thankfully it worked, as a member of the public reported seeing the rat alone on the street – though they didn’t say how they differentiated Lucy from just a regular rat…
The police said in a statement on Facebook:
Great news!
Officers from Sydney City Police Area Command have reunited a homeless man and his pet rat today, after she went missing last week.
Just after 2pm on Saturday 6 April 2019, a homeless man left his pet rat ‘Lucy’ on a milkcrate on Pitt Street while he used a nearby bathroom.
A woman, who walked past and saw Lucy alone, believed she had been abandoned, so took her home and cared for her.
Thanks to all our Facebook followers, Lucy was safely retrieved today and returned to her owner.
Great news!Officers from Sydney City Police Area Command have reunited a homeless man and his pet rat today, after she went missing last week.Just after 2pm on Saturday 6 April 2019, a homeless man left his pet rat 'Lucy' on a milkcrate on Pitt Street while he used a nearby bathroom.A woman, who walked past and saw Lucy alone, believed she had been abandoned, so took her home and cared for her.Thanks to all our Facebook followers, Lucy was safely retrieved today and returned to her owner.
Posted by NSW Police Force on Wednesday, 17 April 2019
The pair were reunited at the police station, where Chris said his half-blind rat Lucy recognised him immediately.
Check it out:
Great news!
Officers from Sydney City Police Area Command have reunited a homeless man and his pet rat today, after she went missing last week.
Thanks to our followers, Lucy was safely retrieved today and returned to her owner. pic.twitter.com/BPPe7lQZP9
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) April 18, 2019
As the police brought over the rat, Chris said:
Yes, that’s her! She’s got the blind eye. She remembers me.
Sorry for putting you all through the trouble of looking for her. It feels wonderful. Thank you very much, everybody.
She knows she’s missed me too.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.