Karson, a K-9 with the Wilmington Police Department, has been located after going missing for nearly two months.
The Facebook page created to track sightings of the police canine announced that he had been recovered and that he was “alive and healthy.” The post, which was published at 1:24 p.m. on Sunday, read:
Karson has been found (…) I have him in the truck next to me. He’s alive and healthy. It’s all over finally…
The police dog, a Belgian Malinois, was initially reported missing on December 23, 2014, after he escaped the Clinton Animal Care Center, a boarding kennel in Wilmington where he was staying while his handler, Officer Jerry Popp, was away on vacation.
The dog’s social media following had over 24,000 likes as of Sunday and the daily posts from his handler received thousands of interactions.
A deputy with the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office located the dog. Afterwards, several people joined the dog’s handler to set up a perimeter around the field where he was last spotted.
After surrounding him, Karson failed to respond to commands from Popp and so the group chased him through the field until he eventually became tired, noticed Popp, and decided to jump into a truck waiting at the scene. At which point, Popp indicated that he “then proceeded to kneel in the snow and cry,” according to his post on Facebook.
The dog was spotted across Greene and Clinton counties where he managed to survive record-breaking low temperatures in Southern Ohio.
A reward of $2,000 was being offered for the return of the police canine. His handler posted that Karson was “home now” and that he was sleeping “and being very quiet.”
Karson is home now (…) He’s sleeping now and being very quiet.
In other animal rescue related news here on Immortal News, the entangled whale off the coast of Maui has been freed by rescuers who managed to saw through the lines while drifting alongside the whale.
What would you do if your dog ran away while you were away on vacation?
