Gizmo The Cop?

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Gizmo the cat keeps town's streets safer
By Ben Baeder
Source: Charleston Daily Mail

Industry, Calif. - He walks without a sound, and can hide almost anywhere. All in black and armed with a steely yellow glare, Gizmo is watching.

He is the semi-official guard cat in a city called Industry, a few miles east of Los Angeles.

For two years, the chubby black feline has been patrolling the city's complex like a four-legged sentry, following city-hired security guards as they walk the beat on Stafford Street near City Hall.

"Pretty much every morning and evening, he makes the rounds with us," said Joe Nanez, the city's security guard of 14 years.

The cat will accompany Nanez and fellow security guard Clarence Decker almost anywhere, even across streets to other buildings leased or owned by the city.

Gizmo - everybody calls him "he" but no one is sure what sex the cat is - is so anxious to see security guards, he runs at moving cars when Nanez or Decker pull up in the morning or evening.

"You got to be ready, because he'll come right at you," Nanez said. Gizmo's style is not exactly subtle. During his rounds, he zigs and zags in front of the security guard's legs, making a noisy cackle somewhere between a meow and the squawk of a green Mexican parrots.

Like a good cop, Gizmo doesn't like just anybody, especially men he doesn't know. Because City Hall is right across the street from the Los Angeles County sheriff's Industry Station, the beat is a fairly quiet one. Nanez still has to teach the cat the finer points of the security guard trade, such as chasing off skateboarders or opening doors for elderly women.

But Gizmo is only 2, so there is time. Besides, the cat has done some good.

"Let's just say, sometimes he brings us furry, dead little trophies that he leaves on the sidewalk," Taylor said.
 
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