Meet Tie. She’s a shepherd-Collie mix from New York City who saw a train start to move in a rail yard on 149th Street in the Bronx. Being a dog — an energetic one at that — Tie took off after the train. It seemed like a fun thing to do. She ran on a parallel track. She ran on and on and on …
… and on and on and on. The train was headed to Manhattan. The train went on a bridge over the Harlem River. Tie stayed right with it.
“The dog was in front of me, running in front,” engineer Joseph Delia told the New York Observer. “She’s not a very big dog. I was worried she wouldn’t make it and get electrocuted.”
Yep, the third rail. Even for dogs running after trains, the third rail must be respected.
Tie fell between the railroad ties a few times, but she made it all the way to Harlem. Passengers crowded the windows to watch her. Engineer Delia made sure to slow the train when Tie got too close.
“She was just running like she didn’t have a care in the world,” he told The New York Post.
When they made it to the platform in Harlem, there was a crowd waiting.
“Yesterday there was a Yankee game so there were at least 100 people clapping and cheering,” MTA officer Luis Alvarez told DNAinfo New York. “They must have been animal lovers like myself.”
Officers whistled to Tie. She wagged her tail and trotted over.
“We whistled, called and it actually came to us,” Alvarez said. “It was actually very happy to see somebody, because remember, it came from the Bronx.”
The dog had no tags, so officers named her Tie (after railroad tie) and took her to Animal Care and Control to get her checked out. She had no microchip, but the center is certain she has an owner.
“She looks very well cared for and very well-fed,” said Risa Weinstock of Animal Care and Control. “She did a lot of tricks and knows a lot of commands, that’s not something you learn on the street.”
But if no owner comes forward, Tie won’t have long to wait. One of the officers is ready to step in.
“If the owner doesn’t claim the dog hopefully I’ll be on the list to adopt her,” Alvarez said. “I have three girls, they are all texting me to get the dog.”
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