fred the fuzz

He might have been the cutest undercover agent the NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney ever had: a buff and black tabby from the streets, named after one of the Weasleys in the Harry Potter series. His name was Fred. He came to be known as "Fred the Undercover Cat" after his major role in busting a petty criminal practising as a veterinarian without a license.

He started out as a sick little stray with a bad case of pneumonia. He recovered under the care of his adoptive mom, who was a Brooklyn deputy district attorney, and in February 2006 became the secret weapon in the quest to catch a fake. But then what do you do when you've made the collar of 9 lifetimes? Fred was on tap to become a therapy cat.

Then one morning in August 2006 Fred decided to run into the traffic in front of his house. He was hit by a car and died instantly - that's a mercy, I suppose.

Tribute article with utterly fab photo from the New York Times, here.