Frightened dog took refuge in police car's engine compartment

A stray dog found himself in a tight spot on Wednesday when he wound up in the undercarriage of a police vehicle in Phoenix, Arizona. It all started earlier in the day, as Phoenix Police Department Lt. Tom Van Dorn was on patrol when he came across a pack of small dogs running down a street. Van Dorn sounded his horn to disperse the canines. “There was a pack of dogs, about 4 to 5 little dogs, just kind of running down the middle of the street, blocking traffic,” Van Dorn said.



“So I pulled up slowly; ended up hitting the horn on the patrol car to try to get them to disperse. Most of them took off running but one little guy ended up darting underneath the police Tahoe.” The frightened pooch ran right under the lieutenant’s car, and after that, wouldn’t budge. “He was underneath for a while. One of the neighbourhood residents was coming to bring out a broom to see if we could get him to come out. But every time we tried, he just kept moving closer and closer to the Tahoe and wouldn’t budge,” he said.



“We tried to even back the Tahoe up slowly to try to get him out. He would just continue to follow the car back.” Soon, Van Dorn saw that the dog had managed to squeeze himself into the undercarriage of the patrol Tahoe. It’s not clear if the dog was stubborn or actually stuck. Nevertheless, the pup was under there for about 20 minutes. “He just appeared to be scared; he was shaking,” Van Dorn said. “He was just scared and really didn’t want to come out for us.”



Even the offer of a hot dog failed to entice the canine to emerge. “I would have never thought he would have made it up into the engine block itself or that he would have even fit,” said van Dorn. “He was a little Chihuahua-type dog. But he was still about 10 to 12 pounds, and it never would have occurred to me that he would fit.” But finally, with the help of Maricopa County Animal Care & Control, the dog was rescued. He is expected to be just fine. The shelter are trying to track down his family, or they will find him a new home.

There's a news video here.