Authorities in Minnesota say a Lakeville resident’s pet dogs found a new way to act out while home alone recently.
According to WNYW, the canines — a hound dog and a Papillion — are believed to have accessed their owner’s cellphone in an office upstairs.
The first 911 hang-up call resulted in officers being dispatched to the home, according to Lakeville police officer Michelle Roberts.
Upon arriving, she and her partner Emily Bares reportedly encountered the dogs “go hyper” from outside, Bares reported.
The officers were able to clear the perimeter but soon learned of a series of subsequent 911 calls from the same location, Roberts said. Those calls reportedly included the sound of barking in the background.
In total, the dogs are believed to have made 16 such calls.
Police were able to contact the homeowner and entered the residence through the garage, according to the Springfield News-Sun.
Roberts reported that officers “went upstairs to his office to where the cell phone was, it was on his desk, it was on emergency call only, so in theory a dog could’ve called 911, and pushed the phone with its paw.”
She mused that the department’s working assumption is that “the dogs were having a rough day and it was the dogs that were seeking assistance through 911.”
In the end, though, no real harm was done.
“Anytime we can laugh and talk about dogs calling 911, if that’s the biggest news of our day that’s a good day,” Roberts concluded.
2 dogs + 1 cell phone = 3 911 calls to dispatch. Did you two really need a potty break that bad? Pups advised of proper 911 etiquette. pic.twitter.com/piOp9zDhHo
— Lakeville Police (@LakevillePD_MN) February 21, 2019
The police department confirmed the incident in a tweet, noting that the dogs were “advised of proper 911 etiquette.”
[Featured image: video screenshot]
