Paw and order!
A clever German shepherd who had wandered away from his home turned up at a Florida police station, where an officer helped reunite the pooch with his tearful owner.
Tampa Police Department security footage captured the “unexpected K-9 applicant” strolling up to the local station’s front doors and greeting the officer who opened the door on Sept. 30.
“This four-legged visitor was ready to join the team, but unfortunately, our K-9 roster is currently full,” Tampa police said in a statement Wednesday. “We made sure our hopeful recruit was safely reunited with his owner instead.”
“He may not have gotten the job, but he definitely stole our hearts,” the department added.
The officer took the missing dog to a veterinarian for a checkup before scanning his microchip and locating his worried owner.
Hours later, Tampa officers reunited the dog and his family.
“Hi, how are you?” the officer asked, with the dog still in his van, according to police bodycam footage.
“I’m not so good, I lost my dog,” the woman replied.
“I have him,” the officer said.
“You have him, really?! I was crying this morning,” she responded.
“Yeah, just wanted to make sure because he ran up to the police department, so I had him in the car,” the officer said.
“I took him to the vet, I checked his chip and I was finally able to find out he has owners. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t like somebody didn’t want him,” he added.
“Thank you, thank you. He made me crazy,” the woman said.
She tearfully hugged the dog and welcomed him home, thanking the officer for bringing him back.
The woman revealed that the German shepherd, whose name wasn’t shared, likes to play outside a lot.
German shepherds are known for their intelligence and trainability. The breed is widely used in law enforcement because of its ability to learn commands, follow complex tasks and work alongside handlers.
Police reminded pet owners to have their animals microchipped, noting that the technology can help identify lost pets and reunite them with their families.
The Tampa reunion comes after two other families recently got their long-lost dogs back after more than a decade apart.
Last month, a Chicago woman was reunited with her chihuahua, Flor, 12 years after the dog disappeared.
Antonino was living in her car with the 4-year-old dog in 2014 when she left for work and returned to find the pet gone.
In March, a Philadelphia family was reunited with their dog, Forty, nearly 11 years after he was stolen from their backyard.
The terrier mix, whose full name is 40Cal, was taken alongside another dog from the family’s home in May 2015.
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