Dogs are extremely loyal and protective pets, particularly when it comes to young children.There have been numerous reports of children going missing from home, only to be discovered with their loyal dog by their side, keeping them safe.
This was recently demonstrated when a missing 5-year-old boy was discovered safe and sound thanks to his protective German shepherd.The Houston Police Department responded to a call on April 2 about a young boy walking along train tracks with only his dog by his side.The department’s Sgt.
Ricardo Salas says he discovered the 5-year-old had Down syndrome while he was about a half mile from his home.He also realized that the German shepherd, named Alejandro, had followed him as his protector.
According to witnesses, the dog was with the little boy when they discovered him.
“The dog followed me as I walked away with the boy,” Sgt. Salas wrote on Twitter.
“This dog was his guardian and his angel.”
“It appears to us that the dog realized something was wrong, that the child wasn’t supposed to be wandering off, and he ended up following him,” he told the Houston Chronicle.
“He was extremely protective and would not take his gaze away from the child.”
Even with the officers present to assist them, Alejandro remained vigilant, never allowing his human to leave his sight.
“The dog followed me pretty much everywhere I went.”
“It wasn’t barking or scared,” Salas said, adding that when he put the boy in the car, the dog “jumped inside the driver’s seat with him.”
Soon after, the officers received another call and discovered that the boy was Jose, a missing child.Jasmine Martinez, the boy’s mother, told Click 2 Houston that she and her 5-year-old son had begun napping, and when she awoke, she discovered Jose had wandered off.
Fortunately, everything turned out fine: the boy suffered only minor scrapes.The family is grateful, but not surprised, that Jose’s faithful dog stepped up to protect him when he was in danger.”Alejandro has always been a very overprotective dog since we got him as a baby.
””I wasn’t surprised when they said he was walking alongside him the entire time,”Samantha Muoz, Jose’s sister,told Click 2 Houston.
Police said no charges would be filed against the family, and the mother is now installing child-safe locks to prevent this from happening again.Sgt.
Salas was moved by the “level of loyalty this dog had to this little boy” and believes it is critical that the dog was watching out for him because the railroad tracks are normally very busy.
“Thank you, God, for keeping an eye on this child,” he wrote.
