One morning the Texarkana Texas Police Department responded to a call about a “vicious dog.”
Officer Travis Frost arrived on the scene and found a perfectly behaved and friendly dog, instead of what the caller had claimed (dangerous and vicious) due to assumptions about the dog’s breed.
Officer Travis Frost approached the friendly canine carefully after leaving his car door open in case the dog truly was vicious and he had to get to safety quickly. Instead, the little angel was very happy and calm and jumped off the front porch he was on to greet the officer and get pats. He went into the vehicle on his own and made himself comfortable while the officer called animal control.
He wasn’t exactly a difficult dog to catch!
An instant celebrity
The department posted on Facebook about it saying,
“Travis said they just hung out together and took some pictures until an Animal Control Officer got there. Pitbulls have a bit of a bad reputation. Travis said that, while you should always be careful around any dog that you don’t know, you shouldn’t automatically assume that all pit bulls are bad dogs. They might be really loving like this guy was this morning.”
Later in the week, the department posted an update on the dogs status and name, Gold!
“GREAT NEWS!!! We just learned that Gold, the dog we encountered yesterday, was picked up this morning by his owner at the Animal Care & Adoption Center, Texarkana, USA,”
Microchip mishap
It turns out that the dog had a microchip but that the information linked to it hadn’t been updated recently – a good reminder to keep your contact information up to date via your vet or the microchip company if your pet has a microchip.
As it happened, Gold had to spend a night in the shelter, although he has now been reunited with his owners. That overnight delay could have been avoided with up to date information, but we’re just happy to hear that this good-natured pup finally made it back home.
As for the caller who originally mistook Gold for a pit bull, it turns out they were wrong about what breed he was! He is actually an American Bully. It’s a common enough mistake to make, as pointed out on the police department website. The officer apologized for the mix up:
“While I can tell the difference between a Chihuahua and a Great Dane, I don’t always know all of the nuances that would allow me to distinguish between breeds that are much closer together. Please forgive my error. I assure you that it was not intentional.”
We get the feeling that Gold is nice enough forgive everyone for the misunderstanding.
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