A pet rabbit who joined a police force in California last year has been given an official title of ‘wellness officer’.
The lost bunny was discovered on Percy Avenue by officer Ashley Carson while on a call in October in Yuba City, Sutter County.
The police force adopted the ‘docile and friendly’ animal and named him Percy after where he was found.
Percy resides at the police station for officers as a ‘support animal for all’, with officers encouraged to pet him when stressed.
The station’s newly-promoted wellness officer Percy even wears his own blue work vest
Yuba City police officer Ashley Carson rescued the rabbit in 2022, in Yuba City, Arizona
Violent crime rates in California have increased by six percent, from 440 per 100,000 residents in 2020 to 466 in 2021
Percy roams freely around the office and has his own pen with a litter box and toys, including a tunnel.
The Yuba City Police Department — about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) north of Sacramento — announced the rabbit’s promotion to the rank of ‘wellness officer’ just days before Easter Sunday.
Lieutenant Michelle Brazil told the BBC: ‘Being able to hold him, pet him and step back from the situation for a minute to regroup is vital.
‘We’re seeing the long-term benefits of it already, even in just a short amount of time.’
Chelsea McCready, police services analyst at the station, said: ‘The idea came as a kind of a joke and it’s really caught on’.
Percy has also attended community events with the department, including schools where he has been a big hit.
After he was found abandoned at 2am in the morning, he was taken to an animal shelter, but weeks later no family had come forward to collect him.
It comes as violent crime rates in California increased by six percent, from 440 per 100,000 residents in 2020 to 466 in 2021.
Aggravated assaults also jumped by nine percent, and homicides and rape grew by almost eight percent each.
In Yuba City, the crime rate rose by 5 percent from 2019 to 2020.
While California is Democrat-controlled, Sutter County is strongly Republican.
Last year, researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland found that cuddling furry friends engages the part of the brain responsible for social and emotional interactions.
They compared brain scans of study participants while they were stroking a dog and a cuddly toy.
They found that viewing, feeling, and touching the dog engaged the part of the brain that regulates and processes social or emotional interactions — known as the prefrontal cortex — in a way that petting the cuddly toy did not.
The team concludes that involving animals in therapeutic interventions might be a promising approach for improving emotional involvement and attention.
Interacting with animals is known to help people cope with stress and depression.
