Florida Dog Has Mug Shot Taken After Being Turned In to Police Station With No Tags
— -- A dog had her mug shot taken after she was turned into a Florida police station without any tags.
The Tarpon Springs Police Department posted the mug shot of the dog, named Willow, with the description "FUGITIVE K9 CAPTURED."
Willow was found in a residential neighborhood in Tarpon Springs when a resident called the police department's non-emergency line and asked that an officer come pick up the dog and find its owner, since it didn't appear to be vicious, said TSPD police dispatcher Juanita O'Harra.
An officer then located Willow and put her in the back of his patrol car to take her to the station.
"Willow refused to tell officers where she lived so she was taken to the PD where she was booked and photographed," the TSPD wrote on Facebook.
Willow's booking followed standard protocol, and she even had her paw prints taken. She was too short to stand on her own in the mug shot, so a police department employee hoisted her up so she could fit in the frame.
After O'Harra posted a photo of Willow to her personal Facebook page, someone commented, asking if the dog, who O'Harra described as an "energetic little puppy, was deaf.
"It made sense because the dog didn't respond to typical commands like 'sit' or a whistle," she said.
A member of a local rescue center said they believed it had escaped from a local rescue center, but it was hard to tell because the white dog was a little dirty when the photo was taken, O'Harra said.
"She had a little fun outside," she said.
After Willow spent more than two hours in police custody, an employee from the rescue center "bonded her out" and brought her to her foster family. Willow is still looking for a forever home, O'Harra said.
"She was very cooperative with officers and probably one of the most friendly prisoners we've ever had in custody," the TSPD said of Willow.
O'Harra said she came up with the idea for the TSPD's cute Facebook post because she thought "it would be a smile to people's faces" during an "intense" and turbulent time for police relations with the communities they serve.
One person commented on Facebook that she was a "very precious little fugitive."
