r/interestingasfuck • u/Alarming-Studio-720 • 1d ago

Utah police dog survives injury after leaping from overpass

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77

u/Alternative-Pride138 1d ago

I’m confused why is he tossing a ball on a freeway?

93

u/Sentientmustard 1d ago edited 1d ago

To not give a joke answer, since he’s walking the freeway they likely had it shut down and he was just there killing time with his cruiser blocking the entrance. Police dogs are super high energy, task driven, and spend all day with their officer, so it’s pretty common that they will throw a ball or do some other “job” like look for a hidden item when they aren’t actively working. Probably just didn’t think about it and did what they always do while waiting around.

Doesn’t excuse it obviously, but I’d bet he also doesn’t think it’s excusable. K9 officers are usually super coveted jobs and the vast majority really do treat their dog like a pet.

22

u/Alternative-Pride138 1d ago

No you’re right probably I also assumed the freeway was closed. It’s just still an absolutely brain dead thing to do.

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u/pichael289 1d ago

I don't think he meant it to go that way, I would assume he was just throwing it down the freeway which is not some horribly stupid thing to do. (I'm operating off the idea it was closed)

There's an ongoing case where a cop shot and killed a 1 year old in Mississippi at a Walmart and it was deemed justified and then they went and broke up the fucking vigil for the kid. We really don't need to be focusing on some totally normal albeit ill-advised act of a cop trying to entertain his dog. Honestly dude is at worst an idiot here.

12

u/Ok-Information1616 23h ago

Yeah, I feel like you can see it in the way he ran over and held his dog on the road there. Something went horribly wrong and the guy pretty much did exactly what you’d hope in that situation.

4

u/Villiage_Layman 1d ago

Thank you!! A cop shot a baby. Cops also shoot dogs. No helicopters to save your dog after a cop shoots it, hopefully they don’t shoot you! Hopefully they break into the correct home and read the warrant correctly!!

1

u/EmptyAirEmptyHead 22h ago

they went and broke up the fucking vigil for the kid

Seriously?

3

u/danawhitesthrowaway 1d ago

Why? It's closed.

•

u/Difficult-Purchase30 10h ago

Yeah I mean clearly he didn't mean anything wrong when this happened. Just didn't really think about it.... and of course it went horribly wrong. Other people in this thread lack empathy when they rip into this officer.

People are making this guy out to be some terrible monster but he had a lapse in judgement. He rushed down the overpass, blocked it off, and hugged/held the dog when he got there. I guarantee you this guy cried/shed tears over this... he probably felt terrible!

Our first reactions when people make HONEST mistakes shouldn't be that they're monsters, but that they're humans, who have lapse in judgement just as everyone else does. It's terrible but the dog survived and will recover!

14

u/NarrowAd4973 1d ago

The way they get a dog to search is to pretend to throw a toy that has the same scent as whatever they're looking for, then the dog goes looking for it. If the dog finds a matching scent, it signals and waits for the handler to give them the toy.

-1

u/-heathcliffe- 23h ago

I can’t imagine there is any veracity to your comment, but if true, why do this on an overpass without a leash?

20

u/SpudsBuckley223 1d ago

He's a cop, we can assume there's some inebriation or mental deficiency involved.

6

u/Alternative-Pride138 1d ago

Like I’m racking my brain and I just can’t think of any scenario where I think to myself “yeah this raised freeway ramp is a perfect place to play fetch with my dog”

3

u/JustGPZ 1d ago

Looks empty enough

1

u/Kerensky97 23h ago

Until the ball bounced over the wall and the dog chased it.

1

u/Pergod 1d ago

Doesn't matter. This is like playing fetch with your dog on a balcony. It's just plain stupid.

1

u/Kerensky97 23h ago

And did he throw the leash after the dog or did that fly because the dog was still tethered? And in that case if he grabbed the leash would it have stopped the dog from impacting the cement?

1

u/Straight_and_Fast 21h ago

Full video explains it.

The dog is trained to start work by 'searching' for the scent, initiated by the pretend ball throw.

-2

u/Great-TeacherOnizuka 1d ago

Because he has a smooth brain