The Hatching Cat of Gotham

Part 2 of a three-part story on the popular animal mascots and horses of the Richmond Hill Police Station.

Part 2: Sport, the Hero Canine Mascot

In Part 1 of this series, we met Tramp, the Richmond Hill Police cat who saved the police horses from rats and mice. Part 2 is a sweet, short story about Sport, a collie who saved a mother cat and her kittens.

Sport was described as an immense collie who adopted the police officers of the Richmond Hill police station in July 1924. He loved all the men in the station, from Captain Herbert Graham to detectives Mierau, Herbert, Cotter, and Newins–and all the way down the line.

A few weeks after Sport adopted the police, he found a mother cat with newborn kittens in an alley near the police station. After carefully considering the situation, he decided to make preparations to bring the feline family to the horse stables attached to the station.

According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sport gathered up some loose hay and placed it in a remote corner of the stables. The reporter noted, “Having arranged this to his satisfaction, the dog was now ready for the second part of his knightly performance.”

Sport returned to the alley and placed one of the kittens gently in his mouth. The mother cat must have sensed that the dog was doing a good thing, because she did not put up a fight. Five times Sport returned to the alley to gather a kitten, until they were all safely deposited in the bed of hay.

When all her kittens were gone, the mother cat followed Sport back to the stables and joined her brood in the hay.

Although the police officers did not object to housing the new family temporarily, they would not be able to keep them forever. They already had Tramp, their expert mouser, and I’m sure Tramp was not too pleased about the new arrivals invading his territory.

As the Brooklyn Eagle noted, if the police could not continue to care for the cats, Sport was sure to find another way to provide for them and be their knight in shining armor.

If you’re a horse lover, stay tuned. In Part III, I’ll tell you about some of my great-grandfather’s adventures with his police horse and provide a detailed history of the Richmond Hill police station and mounted unit.