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Homeless man reunited with pet rat after police search for ‘stolen’ rodent

Chris and Lucy are back together after the rat was taken earlier this month.

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Chris and his pet rat Lucy

A homeless man who thought his pet rat had been stolen has been reunited with the rodent thanks to a little help from the police.

Chris, 59, and Lucy are a familiar sight to many people in Sydney, Australia.

So when, earlier this month, Chris was spotted with a sign saying she had been stolen, police were keen to help.

Officers released CCTV images of a woman who appeared to have taken the rat on April 6 when Chris went to use a public toilet, leaving Lucy outside.

But it turned out the woman had picked up the rat, thinking it had been abandoned, and taken it home to care for it.

Thanks to the publicity from the police’s initial Facebook post they were able to retrieve Lucy and reunite her with her grateful owner on Thursday.

A video posted by New South Wales Police shows a delighted Chris kissing his pet and telling officers: “Sorry to put you all through the trouble of looking for her.”

He added: “This feels wonderful. Thank you very much everybody.”

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