UNIVERSITY CIRCLE, Ohio — Every morning, University Circle Police Officer Kelly Gabriel unlocks the gates of the East Cleveland Township Cemetery. She strolls the peaceful grounds to make sure all is quiet. But, Tuesday morning, she stumbled upon something out of the ordinary.
Gabriel saw a blue jay in the middle of the road.
“I saw it sitting upright with its mouth opened, like a baby bird waiting for food, but it was full grown. So, I bent down to it and touched it. He didn’t move at all. So, I picked it up and carried it to my car,” Gabriel explained.
As she drove back to the police station, she held the bird in her hand. When they got back to the station, she put a few drops of water in the bird’s mouth.
“I squeezed a bit of blueberry in his mouth; he wouldn’t eat that either but drank the water and juice because it was in his mouth,” she said.
Gabriel rummaged around the University Circle Police Department and found a box with a lid. It was a box like what holds copy paper, she explained.
She made a nest for the bird out of an Easter basket she had.
“I put him in the nest in the box and left him alone because birds can get so scared they die of shock,” Gabriel said.
The officer tried to call local rescues to see if anyone could take him, but because it was so early, no one was answering the phones.
“I checked on the box after about two hours and the box lid moved! He was pushing up on it,” she said.
Gabriel took the box back to the cemetery, where she found the bird and opened the lid.
“He hopped out and hopped away into some bushes,” Gabriel said. “It was wonderful,” she added.
When she went back at the end of the shift to lock the gates of the East Cleveland Township Cemetery, she looked for her new feathered friend.
“I didn’t see him anywhere, so I assume he was able to fly away,” she said.
Gabriel brings animals back to the station often.
“Ironically, I brought a cat back an hour after finding the bird,” said Gabriel. They were separated, of course, in the station. “Someone had dumped an elderly cat on the side of the road at East Boulevard and Magnolia. Someone saw them drop it off,” she explained. Gabriel got the call to check on the cat.
“She came to the station too, until I could take her out to the APL,” she explained.
University Circle Police Chief Tom Wetzel said Gabriel connects with animals.
“She will hand feed squirrels while on foot patrol and just generally connects with animal life all around University Circle,” said Wetzel.
“She is a legit police animal whisperer,” he said.
