Police Officer Responds to Help Scared Dog on The Loose Then Notices His Mouth

A police officer responding to a call about a dog on the loose ended up helping the dog not once but twice.

Last week, Good Samaritans tried to catch a dog running on the streets in South Bend, Indiana. But the dog was too scared of them so they notified the police. When South Bend Police Officer Stephanie Northcutt arrived she approached the dog by crouching down and slowly moving towards him. That’s when she noticed the dog’s snout was zip-tied shut!

She decided to approach the dog slowly, speaking softly and extended her hand so to not spook the dog. Her body cam footage caught the moment she won the dog’s trust.

Officer Northcutt let the dog sniff her hand and then managed to get ahold of the leash attached to him. An animal control officer came over and snipped the zip tie off the dog right away. They didn’t need to use the catch pole and Officer Northcutt was able to coax the dog over to her squad car and got him in.

But that wasn’t the end of the story between Officer Northcutt and the dog. The South Bend Police Department later shared a photo of the two new friends together on Facebook and wrote, “For those wondering what happened to the pup… meet his new Mom!!”

“Officer Northcutt said she knew the moment she laid eyes on the pup that he was the perfect addition to her family,” the South Bend Police Department wrote. “The dog, now named Zeus, spent some time bonding with the Northcutt’s other dogs before Officer Northcutt made it official with the folks of South Bend Animal Resource Center – SBARC.”

Zeus won’t have any long-term physical effects from the zip tie and SBARC’s team said Zeus is doing really well, considering how he was found.

It turns out that Zeus is not Officer Northcutt’s first dog rescue.

“Zeus is actually the second dog that Officer Northcutt has rescued from a tough situation while on patrol,” the department continued. “She joked that the dispatchers at St Joseph County 9-1-1 should stop sending her to animal calls because she will soon run out of room at her house!”

Not only did she welcome Zeus into her home, Officer Northcutt is also sponsoring two adoptions at the shelter. What a wonderful rescue, two times over!