Move over, OJ. There’s a new champion in the category of slowest highway police chase.
Motorists along the Legacy Parkway in Davis County, Utah, got quite a surprise on Monday as traffic came to a screeching halt on both sides during rush hour.
But there was no accident creating the backup, no engine breakdown, no construction work.
Instead, blame it on a Pomeranian mix playing her own very dangerous game of Frogger.
Thankfully, this game had a happy ending, as Utah Highway Patrol officers were able to block traffic in both directions, then corral the pup after several attempts, finally getting help from the dog’s owner to get her off the road.
“This was fairly unusual to get a call like this, to try and chase down the dog on the interstate, or Legacy, I guess,” trooper Luke Duwel told FOX 13.
According to Davis County Animal Control, the dog’s owner took her for a walk on the west side of Legacy Parkway and let her off the leash, which is illegal. The dog then escaped through a fence and ran onto the highway.
The dog ran northbound, then turned around and ran southbound for about 40 minutes, crisscrossing across the two sides of the parkway, Utah Highway Patrol trooper Doug Moss told KSL.com.
Several drivers got out of their cars to try to help, Moss said.
“People would get out of their cars and try to get the dog to come to them, and you know, that’s a good effort, but it’s really dangerous for people to get out of their cars on the freeway,” Moss said.
Utah Department of Transportation cameras showed the troopers’ strategy as one tried to corner the pup to a particular area while another jumped out to try and grab her.
Despite several attempts, the dog continually eluded capture.
“The dog was pretty scared so we couldn’t get it to stop and come to us,” Duwel told FOX 13.
About half an hour later, the owner — in his own car — got near the dog and got her out of harm’s way.
Davis County Animal Control cited the owner for running at large, places prohibited, and no licensing, the fine totaling $110.
Read more dog news on Dogster:
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- Cat Cafes Exist, So Why Not Open a Dog Cafe, One That Features Adoptable Pups?
- Watch Lucky the Dog’s Wild Rescue From the L.A. River
About the author: Jeff Goldberg is a freelance writer in Quincy, Mass. A former editor for MLB.com and sportswriter for the Hartford Courant who covered the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team (Huskies!) and the Boston Red Sox, Jeff has authored two books on the UConn women: Bird at the Buzzer (2011) and Unrivaled (2015). He lives with his wife, Susan, and their rescue pup, Rocky, an Italian Greyhuahua/Jack Russell mix from a foster home in Tennessee, hence the name Rocky (as in Rocky Top).
