The UK's first police cat could be put on the beat in Durham after a young girl wrote to the chief constable¹ to suggest cats would be useful in climbing trees to rescue people.

一个小女孩写信给警察局长，她提出猫咪在爬树救人的时候是很有用的。在她写了这封信之后，英国第一只警猫可能会加入到杜伦警察巡逻中。

Five-year-old Eliza Adamson-Hopper wrote to Chief Constable Mike Barton asking why the force only used dogs and that it should consider having cats too.

5岁的艾丽莎·亚当森-霍伯写信给警察局长麦克·巴顿，她询问了警局只利用狗狗的原因，并提出警局也应该考虑利用一下猫咪。

Mr Barton replied and told her the force is now looking to recruit its first cat, although its duties are as yet undecided.

巴顿先生回信并告诉了她，虽然警猫的职责还未确定，警局现在正在留意招募第一只警猫。

Her parents were astonished to receive a letter of reply from him containing a drawing of his own cat, Joey.

她的父母很惊讶能收到回信，而且信中还有一张巴顿先生的猫咪乔伊的画像。

Mr Barton wrote: "Dear Eliza, thank you for your letter suggesting the police should use cats as well as police dogs.

巴顿先生在信中写道：“亲爱的艾丽莎：感谢你来信建议警察在利用警犬的同时，也利用一下猫咪。”

"I am going to ask my inspector² who is in charge of police dogs to think about your good idea.”

“我会要求负责警犬的巡视员考虑一下你的妙计。”

Eliza's mother Cheryl Adamson said she was amazed when the force replied to her daughter's letter.

艾丽莎的母亲谢丽尔·亚当森说，当警局给她女儿回信的时候，她很惊讶。

"She came up with a few ideas about what the cats could do, like listen for danger and climb trees to rescue people," she said.

“关于猫咪能做的事，她提出了几个想法，如监听危险、爬树救人，”她说道。

"She said they were good at finding their way home so they could show policeman the way.”

“她说猫咪擅长寻找回家的路，所以他们也能为警察指路。”

"I nearly died when Mr Barton wrote back, I couldn't believe it."

“巴顿先生给我们回信的时候，我差点儿高兴坏了，简直不敢相信。”

She added: "I think they've just considered her arguments and she made some very valid³ points.”

她补充道：“我认为他们考虑了她的观点，而且她提出了一些非常有效的点子。”

"It will take some careful coordination⁴ between the cats and dogs and I'm not sure what role they will have."

“在猫和狗之间需要谨慎的协调，我还不确定他们能发挥什么作用。”