Puppy chasing the truck it was tossed out of is rescued by UPS driver
A United Parcel Service driver has delivered an Uplifting Puppy Story.
Jason Harcrow, 39, was on the job Tuesday afternoon in the area of East Hatch Road when he saw an old blue farm truck speeding off, leaving a small dog in the cloud of dust it left behind.
“I’m rolling up and I see it pull away in the dirt, going pretty fast, and the little dog is chasing it down the yellow line,” the Hughson resident said Wednesday morning.
Another motorist who stopped told him the driver of the truck had opened the door and tossed out the dog. A car coming the opposite direction startled the dog into running beneath Harcrow’s UPS truck.
“I could see it darting back and forth under my truck,” said Harcrow, who has a dog and cat himself. “It was being stubborn for a while (staying out of reach). ... I tried to grab him and he was kind of playing with me. I didn’t want to get down on all fours, so I was just kind of swiping for him. I was getting a little frustrated.”
Harcrow finally got hold of the dog and plopped him in the back of the truck. He called Stanislaus County Animal Services, which told him an officer would meet him to take it. “But I couldn’t wait and just stop working, so I kept him in the back of my truck a little while and did more deliveries,” he said. “He’s an awesome little pup.”
Harcrow took the dog to the Hughson Police substation, where it was collected by Animal Services. Officers didn’t even catch Harcrow’s name at the time, Sgt. Juan Alanis said. “He was in kind of a rush – the dog wasn’t part of his route.”
Hughson Police Services posted an account on Facebook. “The puppy is in great spirits,” it read, “and will most likely be up for adoption at Stanislaus County Animal Shelter.”
The dog, believed by Animal Services staff to be a Cairn terrier less than a year old, will indeed be available for adoption next week if unclaimed by his owners, Executive Director Annette Patton said Wednesday.
The dog has no microchip or tags identifying ownership, she said, but is healthy and clean and appears cared for.
If owners do not retrieve the dog beforehand, he will be neutered Monday and available for adoption at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Animal Services, 3647 Cornucopia Way.
The adoption fee is $90 – “a great deal because it includes neutering, vaccinations and a microchip,” Patton said.
Should the owners claim the dog, it must be licensed and microchipped before it can leave the shelter, she said.
Some of Harcrow’s colleagues saw social media and news reports of his dog rescue. “We’re very proud of him,” said Jessica Lafferty, supervisor at the UPS hub in Ceres. “He’s a very good guy.”
The story first appeared in The Modesto (Calif.) Bee.
This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Puppy chasing the truck it was tossed out of is rescued by UPS driver."