He goes by the nickname “Officer Spot,” and occasionally has been seen sleeping on the job. The 12-week-old Rat Terrieris boosting the morale of police officers at the Woods Cross Police Departmentin Utah.
Officer Spot, whose full name is Spoticus, belongs to Crime Prevention Specialist Stephanie Gonzales, who adopted him right before Christmas, and started bringing Spot to work. “Iwanted to show off my new dog,” she tells Today Pets. “Of course, they thought he was the cutest little thing.”
Spot’s impact was immediate says Gonzales. “Thedetective walked in, he was in a grumpy mood. He’d just had a horrible call, and Spot just runs up and completely loves him. And Spot does that with every officer.”
Since everyone Spot had such a positive impact on everyone at the precinct, Gonzales decided to bring the dog with her to work every day. “Everybody who came in the office — whether you work here or wanted to make a police report — has been like, ‘Oh, what a cute dog!’ Even if you’re in the worst mood, I mean, there’s a little puppy. How do you not love that?”
One of Spot’s high-profile achievements was helping a little lost boy find his parents. “He [the boy] did not know who police were, and was very, very reluctant to come in,” Gonzales says. “But as soon as he was in here, and he saw the dog, he was like, ‘Oh, a dog!’ We let him throw Spot a toy. He completely warmed up, finally told us his name, finally got his phone number, and we were able to get him back to his parents.”
When he is not working, Spot is fast asleep on Gonzales’ desk. At home, he lives with Gonzales, her husband, their four children, and two Bullmastiffs.
Sources: Today Pets, Woods Cross Police Department
