Police officer to adopt kitten who was thrown out of car window

By Yi-Jin Yu

You could call it a purr-fect stroke of serendipity.

A Virginia police officer is set to adopt a kitten following a service call while on the job.

Timothy Rugg, a police officer with the Harrisonburg Police Department, first met Penny-Furthing the kitten three weeks ago when he responded to a service call on July 13.

Courtesy of Timothy Rugg

Officer Rugg calls Penny-Furthing the "hero" he didn't know he needed.

"A cat had been thrown out of the window on Old Furnace Road and I showed up on the scene and found Penny underneath the couch," Rugg recalled to "Good Morning America." "She was super scared but when I picked her up, she just climbed right up to my shoulder ... started purring and just wouldn't let go."

Courtesy of Timothy Rugg

Rugg told "GMA" he knew "instantly" that he and Penny would be together forever.

Rugg said he took the 3-month-old domestic feline to Rockingham Harrisonburg SPCA and although they told him they were at full capacity, they checked out the kitten and said Penny was doing OK. Rugg added the kitten had pink eye but has since responded well to medication.

"I asked them right away if I could take her home. And they said OK, we gotta go through a foster process," Rugg recounted.

Rugg was able to bring Penny home that same day, which also happened to be his wife's birthday.

Courtesy of Timothy Rugg

Rugg said when he first encountered Penny, she was "very timid and shy" but is now "rambunctious" and "wild."

"That was an interesting surprise for her," he said.

They settled on the name Penny-Furthing, a play on penny farthing and "fur thing," after initially trying out Charlie.

Courtesy of Timothy Rugg

Rugg said Penny-Furthing is a "curious" kitty who loves to relax on his shoulder.

After a three-week foster trial, Rugg and his wife will adopt the calico kitten Friday.

The feline has settled in comfortably at home, according to Rugg, who said she's gone from a "very timid and shy" kitten to a "wild" and "rambunctious" pet who loves to cuddle, scratch, play with water and poke around their houseplants.

Courtesy of Timothy Rugg

Timothy Rugg, a police officer in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is set to adopt a three-month-old kitten, after meeting her during a service call on July 13.

In a statement to "GMA," Huck Nawaz, the executive director of the RHSPCA, said, "It's heartbreaking to think that someone chose to toss little Penny out of a car. Fortunately for her Ofc. Rugg was there to bring her to us. I guess they bonded on the ride over as she was already quite attached to him by the time they got here and he offered to foster her while she recovers. This is one case of a 'failed foster' that we couldn't be happier about. We're very grateful for the support of our community members like Ofc. Rugg who open their hearts and homes for our animals in need."

Even though Rugg will be the one who will adopt Penny-Furthing, he calls the kitten the "hero" he didn't know he needed and encourages others to consider fostering or adopting animals in need.

"The process is really simple. You just go to your local shelter and fill out an application, they'll do a small background check to make sure everything is good. And then you can take a cat home or a dog home," Rugg explained.

"The beauty of the foster process is you can learn to see if you are capable or really want to do it rather than just purchasing an animal somewhere else and then not being sure later if it was the right choice," the officer added.