By Aya Miller
mlive.com
BRANCH COUNTY, Mich. — People clearing damage from the Union City tornado in the days after the twister were greeted with an unlikely surprise.
A brown kitten named Officer Ezra.
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Ezra rode in a police car and perched on the shoulder of Chris Mathis, the Union City police chief and village manager. Ezra went everywhere Mathis went, greeting line workers and residents alike.
The March 6 EF3 tornado, the strongest and among the deadliest to hit Michigan in 46 years, destroyed many of the village’s utilities and electric lines, causing between $40,000 and $50,000 in damage, Mathis said.
Since joining the department, Ezra has become a “local celebrity,” Mathis said.
“People would see him and pet him and hold him,” Mathis said. He thinks Ezra’s presence “helps a lot.”
The Union City Police Department adopted Ezra and his brother, Ellis, in December 2025. Union City Village residents visit the kittens at the police department, which shares an office with the Union City Village Office at 101 S. Broadway St.
The kittens aren’t trained therapy or emotional support animals, Mathis said. And the department wasn’t looking to adopt pets.
Instead, the kittens came into the department by way of the cat distribution system. The kittens tumbled out of a vehicle outside the department one morning in December.
Someone heard the kittens meowing outside the village office and two staff members caught them.
“We initially were just going to take care of them and find a home for them,” Mathis said. “But they’re just so cute and they just kind of wormed their way into our hearts.”
The kittens live in the office full time. The building is large and they have free roam between various rooms where their litter boxes, food and water are located. The kittens are not allowed in the building’s public entrance in case anyone is allergic to cats, but staff members will bring them out if a visitor asks for them.
Officers will also use the kittens if they need to speak with a child who has gone through a traumatic event. The kittens help “build rapport” and can “soften” the interaction to make children more comfortable, Mathis said.
The kittens spend their day sleeping, walking around the office and playing. They still both have a lot of energy, Mathis said, and are very friendly.
Ezra loves to be cradled like a baby, Mathis said, and will climb Mathis’ Kevlar vest to ride on his shoulder.
Ezra will also lay on Mathis’s desk while Mathis films Union City true crime stories to post on social media.
“I think (viewers) are more interested in the cat than they are me,” Mathis said.
Their presence has been especially helpful to staff coming back to the office after long days dealing with tornado recovery.
Mathis said they have no plans to give the kittens up for adoption.
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