Dog Leads Officers To Totaled Truck & Seriously Injured Men
on Jan 07, 2022
According to New Hampshire State Police, two officers were responding to a report of a dog running loose on a highway and it lead them to save the lives of two men.
It was a bitterly cold Monday night when the officers drove out to Interstate 89 at the New Hampshire-Vermont border in Lebanon to look for the dog.
The caller said that it was a German Shepard and when the officers got there, they found the dog running on the side of the road. However, when they tried to get close to it, the dog refused to be corralled and continued to run northbound.
It then lead Lt. Daniel Baldassarre of New Hampshire State Police to a damaged section of the guardrail near the I-89 and I-91 junction where they found a crashed vehicle off to the side of the road.
According to New Hampshire State Police, the officers then “observed a badly damaged pickup truck that had rolled over. As the officers investigated further, they realized that both occupants of the pickup truck had been ejected from the vehicle and were hypothermic and seriously injured.”
One of the men was identified as 31-year-old Cam Laundry, who was the dog’s owner and he told NECN and NBC10 Boston in an interview on Tuesday that he was knocked out when the truck rolled.
“It’s honestly remarkable,” Laundry told local news NBC5. “She’s my little guardian angel, you know? It’s a miracle that she had that kind of intelligence to do what she did.”
Both of the men were taken to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to be treated for their injuries. Police officers attending to the injured men say the dog was incredibly well-behaved.
“The whole time we were starting our patient care, it sat there nice and calm right next to its owner,” Captain Jack Hedges of Hartford Fire Department said.
Unfortunately, the second dog involved in the crash, the passenger’s bulldog escaped the crash but was later hit by a car and killed on the interstate.
After running a medical test, police said they will be charging Laundry with driving under the influence. “It definitely was a wake-up call,” Laundry said in the interview, expressing sadness over the loss of his passenger’s dog but noting he’s glad he and his friend weren’t hurt worse.
“We’ve had, you know, a lot of amazing stories with our trained K9s and stuff, but not for just a household pet to lead you down that road and play a role in saving some lives,” Lebanon Chief Phillip Roberts said.
Laundry said his dog who he calls Tinsley never leaves his side.
“We’re always together; in that truck that got wrecked, she’s always my co-pilot. I’m just thankful she’s always with me,” Laundry said of his faithful companion, adding, “Everybody loves Tinsley!”
