Racine Sun

Racine police officers recently gifted a new pet cat to a boy after he lost his cat to a fire.

A fire broke out at The Maples, a 16-unit apartment building at the 2300 block of Anthony Lane and was declared to be a total loss, TMJ4 News reported. Nine-year-old Austyn and his mother lost everything to the blaze, but the young boy said that the thing he misses most is his pet cat who died in the fire.

The past couple of weeks since the fire had been very hard on Austyn, but he was pulled out of class to receive a surprise from members of the community. The boy was taken to the school library where he received a new kitten from Racine Police Officer Travis Brady.

"So I know we can't ever replace Lily, but this beautiful little girl is all yours buddy," Brady said to Austyn.

Officer Brady, a 30-year veteran, is part of the Community Oriented Policing Unit which seeks to build relationships with local neighborhoods. He reached out to foster rescue organization Paws Up Rescue to arrange the adoption of the kitten for Austyn. Paws Up Rescue waived all adoption fees on the kitten.

"It was overwhelming but at the same time I was really grateful that the community came together at the time of need," Brady told TMJ4 News.