Aww of the Day: Cop Stops Highway Traffic to Save Dog

Cujo was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fortunately, the right cop happened along.

Cujo, a Miniature Rat Terrier with a bad hip, ran away from home one morning several days ago in La Porte, Texas. One of his owners, Jeremy Zapalac, quickly organized a search party. It started raining. Things were getting critical.  

"He hates water," Jeremy later told KHOU 11 News. 

He also said the tiny dog is named Cujo because "he's a monster, frankly," and that he's "a Napoleon type of dog. He's very short, with a very big ego." 

In any case, Cujo was out in the rain. Where, nobody knew. Until Police Officer Kyle Jones spotted Cujo huddled in the cold on the well-trafficked Spencer Highway, hatching a plan. Cujo, it seemed, was going to cross the road. 

"He’s not going to make it if I don’t do something," Jones said of the tiny dog. "When I saw [the dog] and saw the size of it, I immediately hit my lights and shut all the lanes off."

Yep, a cop shut down a highway to save the shivering little dog, who hates water. After he did that, the rest of the rescue operation was all on Cujo. Jones was worried the dog would scamper away. 

"You know how Chihuahuas [sic] are. You're not really sure if you can trust 'em or not," the officer said, laughing. "But he kind of looked at me and said, 'Man, I'm glad you're here.' He let me pick him right up. Stuck him in the back seat of the patrol car."

Cujo had tags, so he was quickly back in the arms of Jeremy Zapalac.

"I was just happy to have him back," Jeremy said. "He was all wet, he was soaked. We got him in, wrapped him up, dried him off, and he just slept in his bed all day." 

Which might have been the end of this story, had not a passing motorist -- well, one of the stopped motorists -- pulled out a camera and snapped a photo of the cop sweet-talking Cujo over to his car. She posted the the photo to Reddit, along with the line "This police officer stopped traffic, in the rain, to save this wet and limping little dog. Faith in humanity.... Restored," and the Internet took it from there.  

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Mystery Dog Spotted in Three Places Along U.S. Highway 101

Bay Area commuters see a small dog running down the freeway -- in locations that are miles apart. We hope he's safe.

During Wednesday morning's Bay Area commute, the California Highway Patrol received numerous calls about a mysterious dog that was reported in three locations miles apart along U.S. Highway 101.

The animal, which was described as a small, brownish-white Chihuahua-type dog, was first reported just before 9 a.m. near San Francisco's Candlestick Park on the freeway. The first caller reported the dog was next to the center divider, heading south. The CHP dispatched a unit to the scene, and traffic was slowed to a near-standstill while the dog loped cheerfully ahead of three lanes of restrained, backed-up traffic.

According to commuter Floyd Stone, who snapped a picture of the elfin animal, it appeared as though the little Chihuahua was a pied piper leading the morning commute to Silicon Valley.

"The Highway Patrol was successful in steering the dog safely to the shoulder, allowing the cars to resume their speed," said Stone, who gave the dog an apt moniker. "'Freeway Dog' seemed happy, content, and quite satisfied in leading the commute today and had a big smile on the side of the road when we passed by."

CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said animal control officers were called to the area, but after searching for half an hour, they were unable to find the dog.

Then the situation took a strange turn. An hour later, another report had the dog still on the freeway, but almost 25 miles south, seemingly an impossible distance for a dog with such short legs to cover in such little time. There was another sighting of a small dog matching Freeway Dog's description on Highway 101 at Woodside Road in Redwood City.

Then, an hour after the first report, a third caller had the dog a half-mile farther south at the Marsh Road exit. According to the caller, the driver of a white Mercedes-Benz had pulled over onto the side of the off ramp and was apparently trying to capture the dog.

After that, Van Eckhardt said, there were no more reports.

"The descriptions match, though that is an awfully long distance for a dog to run," he said. "One hopes a good citizen was able to rescue the dog and it's now in a safe place." 

Did you see this little dog? Can you help us give this story a happy ending? Let us know in the comments! 

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