A Police Officer Responded to a Call At an Animal Shelter and Ended Up Adopting a Puppy

When Officer Marcus Montgomery, of the Fort Walton Beach Police Department, responded to a routine call at the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), he didn’t know he’d be bringing home a new family member. While he was conducting his investigation, he laid eyes on a puppy that immediately captured his heart.

“As soon as I saw him, I said ‘don’t bring him in here or else I will take him home right now,'” Montgomery told ABC News. “When I held him close, he bumped his nose next to mine and licked it. I knew right then that I needed to get him.”

When Montgomery learned about how the young dog ended up at the shelter, he was even more convinced he needed to adopt him. “The supervisor explained to me that he was left all alone in a box behind their building overnight,” he said. “During that time, we were achieving 30 and below weather, so just thinking about him out there all alone, probably so confused, broke my heart. I’ve heard him whine and cry, and just imagining him in that box by himself, tugged at my heart terribly.”

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The new pup, who Montgomery has named Kylo, will join the family’s other dog, a pit bull terrier named Vader. “I hope Kylo’s story teaches people to look into their local animal shelters and give these abandoned dogs a new lease on life,” he said.

The PAWS Facebook page shared a photo of the officer and his puppy on Jan. 28. It has been shared almost 1,000 times and received nearly 5,000 likes to date.