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From: DawnWatch – news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: May 7, 2007 11:45 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Delightful article about cop who saves animals, in San Francisco Chronicle 5/7/07

The Monday, May 7, San Francisco Chronicle has a heartwarming article worth sharing (and I thank Jennifer Drone for sharing it with us). The piece, by John Koopman, is headed, “The Badge.” (pg D1)

It opens:

“Sgt. Carri Lucas is not what you’d call a people person.

“She’s gruff, and doesn’t smile much. She’s been a cop in San Francisco for 27 years. She’s seen a lot of murder, mayhem, domestic disputes and drugs deals.

“But her police work is not about locking up bad guys — as far as she’s concerned, most deserve what they get. Her mission is to protect the vulnerable.

“‘All I care about is children, old people and animals,’ she said the other day at her desk in the Mission Station. ‘People make fun of me. When a call comes in dealing with kids or animals, I’m out the door like a shot.’”

We read about a rat who ran into the police building and sent officers fleeing. Sgt Lucas made sure the animal could escape without being hurt.

Then we read:

“But no one was really surprised that the sergeant wanted to save a rat. Her love of animals runs deep. She is the soft-touch who puts flyers on the Mission Station bulletin board for people wanting to place pets in good homes.

“Lucas’ tender feelings about animals stem at least partly from her work as a cop — protecting people. Mistreating animals is often a precursor to violence against other people, especially in domestic disputes.”

We are given some details of such disputes. We also learn that Lucas volunteers one day a week at San Francisco’s Animal Care and Control, and is upset that so much of the paperwork indicates “that the animal was brought in by its owner.”

The piece ends:

“Pets are family, in her mind. You don’t send them away. They’re vulnerable and innocent. You help the innocent, and protect the vulnerable.

Even if it’s a rat.”

You’ll find the whole delightful article on line at www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/07/BAGIEPLEK51.DTL.

And you can send an appreciative letter to the editor to letters [at] sfchronicle.com.

The paper advises, “Due to space considerations, only letters of less than 250 words will be considered for publication. Please provide your name and telephone number along with your letter. You will be called if your letter is being considered for publication.”

Yours and the animals’,
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited — leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts dawnwatch activism activist Carri Lucas San Francisco humane domestic violence animal abuse animal rescue animal cop

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