Police officers are involved in all kinds of rescue missions on a regular basis, but for Glendale Police Department, Arizona, this recent rescue mission involving a German Shepherd will remain as one of the greatest.
Being creative at your job is always important, especially when you have a distressed dog in need of rescue.
Some pretty unlikely tactics and bribing were used to save the day.
Pumpkin Muffin Dog Rescue
In June 2023, the Glendale Police Department received a call from a concerned passerby regarding an animal welfare issue.
The officers discovered a German Shepherd dog trapped in a canal in Arizona, who was very tired and distressed.
The poor dog was stuck in the canal with no route of escape. He was also exhausted from swimming back and forth and unsuccessfully trying to save himself.
According to the Glendale Police Department – Arizona Facebook post, officer Sorenson immediately sprang into action by removing his ballistic vest and gun and entering the canal.
However, the dog was skittish and kept swimming away from the officer.
That’s when officer Downey came up with a genius plan.
He remembered that he had freshly-baked pumpkin muffins his wife had baked him for the patrol shift, and they could use them to bribe the dog.
The body camera shows the officer going to the patrol car and retrieving the muffins.
“Try this, it’s my wife’s pumpkin muffins,” said officer Downey, giving a homemade muffin to officer Sorenson.
These homemade muffins must have been very delicious because the bribe worked perfectly.
Rescue Mission Was Successful
“Officer Sorensen was able to use the muffins as a tool to get the dog close, at which time, he grabbed onto his collar and removed him from the canal,” the Glendale Police Department wrote in their #FeelGoodFriday Facebook post.
“There goes my muffin,” officer Downey said jokingly at the end of the video. He was obviously so happy that his wife’s muffins were able to save a poor dog.
Watch the video below to see exactly how the police officers bribed the dog with a delicious treat:
The dog thankfully didn’t have any injuries and wasn’t hurt. He was shortly after reunited with the owner who lived just down the street, the police said.
It just goes to show that you never know when a delicious muffin can come in handy for saving somebody’s life.
At the end of their post, the police said, “Great work by our patrol officers! Hopefully, Officer Downey’s wife was able to whip up a new batch of muffins for him!”
Officer Downey definitely deserves a lot more muffins for his selfless act that helped save this furry pooch.
Great work at keeping every member of the community safe and sound.
