A dog who tragically lost his owner to a hit-and-run and walked himself home will be trained to be a service animal.
On March 22, Patch was walking with his mom, who was visually impaired, in a Nashville Tennessee neighborhood when a driver of a Ford F150 struck her and drove off, according to NBC affiliate WSMV.
Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control
Someone found the injured woman shortly after and she was rushed to the local hospital but was pronounced dead.
Meanwhile, Patch left the scene of the accident on his own and walked back home to the apartment where he and his mom lived. He waited at the front door of a neighbor’s for her to come home. “Officers located her uninjured dog sitting at the front door,” the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shared in a release of the incident.
Patch was then taken to Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control to search for the woman’s relatives. But sadly, the shelter staff could not find any family so they reached out to Medical Mutts Service Dogs because they believed Patch may have had service dog training.
Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control
Medical Mutts Service Dogs posted to Facebook that “Patch is now safe with us and settling in great.” They continued, “He acted as a service dog for his handler. Since he was unclaimed by any family, our friends at Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control reached out to us to take him. We don’t have any background on what training he received, but he has been doing very well so far. He will still undergo our training with the hopes of being placed with the right person.”
Medical Mutts Service Dogs, an experienced rescue group that trains dogs for service and follows the guidelines as set out by Assistance Dogs International.
Kelsey Burton, the director of development at Medical Mutts Service Dogs, told PEOPLE, “Unlike the majority of service dog organizations, we use shelter dogs for our programs. Therefore, we have great partnerships with many shelters and rescues. We have been partners with Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control for years.”
She added that about 1 in 4 become service dogs while the others are adopted out.
She noted that Patch shows the signs of having the right temperament to succeed.
“When we are looking at shelters and rescues for service dog candidates, we look for specific traits,” she said. “We look for dogs with the right temperament, the right age, the right physical traits, and the right health. Patch fit all of these qualifications. Plus, after we learned his story, we knew we had to help turn his story of tragedy into a story of hope.”
To find out more about Medical Mutts Service Dogs visit their website.
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