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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Doggie Has Too Much Getalong Pursued Along Freeway, Pooch Eludes Roundup

It wasn’t exactly hot pursuit of a hardened criminal, but a sheriff’s deputy and animal control officer who chased a wayward dog along a six-mile stretch of Interstate 90 on Thursday tracked the pooch with similar resolve.

The rambunctious dog - running against traffic - scurried between cars and jumped the freeway’s concrete median a few times, slowing traffic to a crawl from the state Highway 41 junction to the Fourth Street exit.

“I had the animal control officer sitting in the back seat of my patrol car with a lasso trying to lasso it,” said Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy Barry Alleman.

Fearing the dog would cause a serious accident, Alleman carefully weaved his patrol car against westbound freeway traffic trying to coral the cockapoo mix. Animal control officer Glenn Weeks, armed with a pole to snare the small black and brown dog, hung out the rear window.

But the dog darted away each time the patrol car got close.

“He was fast and he wasn’t going to come to anybody,” Alleman said.

The dog eventually scampered up the Fourth Street offramp and away from his pursuers. He was last seen near Borah Elementary school.

No accidents were reported and the dog appeared unharmed.

“I pulled up alongside the dog and I hit the air horn and the siren to try to keep it off the freeway,” Alleman said.

Sheriff’s dispatchers began receiving calls about 10 a.m. of the dog running on the freeway near the Highway 41 junction. Alleman and Weeks gave up tracking the dog about 11:40 a.m.

“It probably looked kind of funny because I had all the lights going trying to catch a poodle,” Alleman said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo