Not every police pursuit ends with flashing lights and a felony charge. Some end with wagging tails and a grassy median. That was very much the case in Oklahoma City on Tuesday morning, when a pair of dogs decided to take their morning run somewhere a little more ambitious than the backyard.
The two dogs were spotted by Sky 5, the only news helicopter in the air on weekday mornings in the area, trotting along Oklahoma City Boulevard near Interstate 40. They looked relaxed. They looked happy. They looked like they had absolutely no interest in being told what to do. A police unit fell in behind them and began what had to be one of the more unusual assignments in the officer’s career, following the dogs the wrong way up a highway ramp while other motorists did the sensible thing and slowed to a stop.
What made the footage particularly memorable was the dogs’ attitude. They weren’t panicked. They weren’t darting through traffic. They were jogging along with the kind of confidence usually reserved for someone who knows exactly where they’re going, which these two clearly did not. More than once, they glanced back at the police cruiser trailing them, as if checking to make sure their escort was keeping up. At one point they strolled past slowed oncoming traffic and paused to inspect those vehicles too, which is either very brave or very oblivious, depending on your perspective.
The chase, such as it was, came to a peaceful conclusion when the dogs eventually slowed to a walk and the officer was able to guide them off the road and into a grassy median. No injuries, no drama, no citation issued. As of the time of the report, it was not known where the dogs came from or whether they have owners waiting somewhere, presumably wondering what took them so long.
Sky 5 Catches the Whole Thing on Camera
The story only made it to air because Sky 5 happened to be in the right place at the right time. As the only news helicopter operating over Oklahoma City on weekday mornings, it has a front-row seat to whatever the city decides to get up to before most people have finished their coffee. Tuesday’s canine highway adventure was not the kind of incident that generates a 911 call with a lot of detail, which makes the aerial footage all the more valuable.
Two dogs, one police unit, a highway ramp, and a helicopter overhead: not a bad supporting cast for an otherwise routine Tuesday.
The Officer Who Followed Dogs the Wrong Way Up a Ramp
Credit where it is due: the responding officer handled a genuinely odd situation with patience. Going the wrong direction on a highway ramp to shepherd a pair of happy, uncooperative dogs is not covered extensively in any police academy curriculum.
The fact that other drivers reacted calmly, slowing down and waiting while the unusual procession passed, probably helped matters considerably. Oklahoma City motorists, it turns out, are reasonably good at adapting to unexpected circumstances.
What Happens to the Dogs Now
The dogs were guided into a grassy median and the immediate road hazard was resolved, but their longer-term situation remained unclear. It was not known at the time of the report where they came from, whether they belong to anyone, or how they ended up on Oklahoma City Boulevard on a Tuesday morning with no apparent agenda beyond going for a run.
Animal welfare resources in Oklahoma City include the city’s animal shelter, which handles strays and reunites lost pets with their owners when identification is available. For anyone in the area who recognized the pair from the footage, the KOCO 5 report would be a reasonable starting point.