Bandit, a 14-week-old kitten adopted as an office cat by the Rindge Police Department. STAFF PHOTO BY ASHLEY SAARI—

Bandit was brought to the Rindge Police Department after he was found seriously injured and alone on Rand Road a few weeks ago. STAFF PHOTO BY ASHLEY SAARI—

Bandit plays at the Rindge Police Department. STAFF PHOTO BY ASHLEY SAARI—

Something has Bandit’s attention at the Rindge Police Department. STAFF PHOTO BY ASHLEY SAARI—

There is a Bandit on the loose inside the Rindge Police Department – but don’t worry. He’s authorized.

Bandit is the new name for the 14-week old kitten who has taken up the role of office cat for the department after he was found seriously injured and alone on Rand Road a few weeks ago.

Police Chief Rachel Malynowski said the department often takes in lost cats or dogs to reunite with owners, or turn over to the Monadnock Humane Society if they’re not claimed within seven days. But the gray and black tabby kitten was something special – starting with his need for immediate care.

The kitten, only about 12 weeks old at the time, had a wound on one of his back legs. He was brought into the Police Department overnight after being found by a citizen, and when morning came and no one had called about a missing cat, Malynowski said she knew that treatment couldn’t wait – the wound was already infected.

The kitten was taken to Fieldstone Veterinary Hospital, where the wound was treated. Malynowski said it’s not known what caused the wound, which covered a large portion of the leg and resulted in swelling and the kitten not being able to put any weight on it. It could have been caught in something, or injured by another animal.

It’s also not known where the kitten came from, though it does not show any signs of being feral, and Malynowski said it must have been exposed to people before being taken into the Police Department.

“Whether he had a home before, he has a home now,” Malynowski said.

The kitten, as the days went by without anyone coming forward to claim him, began to make himself at home in the department. Feeling sorry for him, officers let him out of the kennels more often than not to roam the office. He turned out to have a very sweet personality, and loves being with people – including strangers, making him the perfect temperament for an office cat.

Then, a few toys started to show up. Malynowski donated a fleece jacket for a box for a bed, which was then replaced by a real cat bed.

By the end of the week, the officers were calling the kitten Simon, and that’s when she knew they were in danger of “failing” this foster situation, Malynowski said.

“When you name an animal, that’s when you know you’re in trouble,” Malynowski said. And while she said she wouldn’t “name names” about who the first person was to give the kitten a name, she said it’s one of her officers who staunchly protests he’s not a cat person, but who she  has caught with the kitten in his lap more than once.

Not that there weren’t other options. Animal Control Officer Larry Harris had offered to adopt the kitten, as had one of the veterinary lab technicians who worked on his injury. But at the end of his first week with the department, during a staff work day, Malynowski put it to a vote, and made it clear that if the kitten was to be a permanent fixture in the office, it had to be a unanimous decision. And it was, even among those who professed not to be cat people.

The kitten is being supported by individual staff members who have pooled to buy his supplies and pay for his veterinarian care, not through the police budget. He is their collective pet.

The department decided to put the kitten’s official name up for vote, with several options, including his temporary name of Simon and Petey, from “PD.” But the winner, through Facebook vote, was Bandit, due to his tabby stripes and his propensity for stealing pens and officer lunches, with a particular fondness for sandwich meat.

Malynowski said the public is welcome to come and meet Bandit, but cautioned that he is not a trained comfort or therapy animal,  just a pet.

Donations for Bandits upkeep, including scoopable litter, Iams kitten food, toys or Temptations treats can be dropped off at the Rindge Police Department.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.

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