Sydney Police Reunite Homeless Man With His Missing Beloved Pet Rat

NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA — Police in Sydney, Australia, have reunited a homeless man with his beloved pet rat after their story went viral on social media.

On April 6, a 59-year-old man named Chris suffered a heartbreaking loss when his pet rat, Lucy, went missing on Pitt Street.

Chris had left Lucy outside while he went to use a nearby restroom. When he came outside, she was gone.

Chris and Lucy are well known to many residents and workers in the area who walk by the pair every day.

New South Wales Police reached out to the public and asked for help in identifying the woman whom they believed had stolen Lucy. Chris made a sign, and a picture of him holding it was widely circulated on social media. “My pet rat Lucy was stolen on Saturday,” it read. “Lucy is black and white with a bit of brown.”

It turned out that the woman who took Lucy wrongly believed that the rodent had been abandoned, according to News.com.au. After she returned Lucy, the NSW Police posted a video of Chris and Lucy being reunited — and Chris embracing his beloved pet.

“This feels wonderful,” he said in the video. “Thank you very much everybody. She knows she’s missed me too, aye. She’s very loveable.”

Read more: News.com.au, News.com.au (2), NSW Police Force