Video: Loyal Dog Refuses to Leave Fallen Friend

The loyal dog, whose name turns out to be Maggie, was clearly traumatized by the sudden loss of her partner when she was captured by animal control officers. photo Courtesy of L.A. County Department of Animal Control

Here’s a remarkable story from Southern California that serves as an example of a dog’s capacity for loyalty and bravery, but it also raises some troubling questions about the animal’s owners. Last Wednesday, a dog was hit by a car and killed in the street in the city of Baldwin Park. This is terrible sad, but unfortunately not uncommon. What made this case special was that the poor animals companion, a young black Labrador retriever, refused to leave her fallen companion, lying down in the road alongside the body with traffic roaring all around her. Luckily, a Good Samaritan too the time to set out some cone to redirect cars away from the two dogs. Eventually, animal-control officers were able to capture the Lab and bring her to a shelter.

Because she had no tags, shelter workers nicknamed her Grace, as in “Amazing Grace,” for her heroic act of loyalty. Dozens of people, including the original Good Samaritan, applied to adopt the sweet dog. However, several days later, the dog’s owners came to claim her. Once they convinced shelter workers that they were, in fact, the owner of the dog (whose real name, it turns out, is Maggie), was cited for several violations of licensing and leash laws. Animal-control officials said that they would do a home visit before they released Maggie; they had a few days to work with, since Maggie was scheduled to be spayed on Monday. No one has claimed the dog that died in the accident.

Although this seems like a happy ending for Maggie, some people wonder if Maggie’s owners deserve another shot at being responsible pet owners:

The good Samaritan who had hoped to adopt Grace was notified, Reyes said, and his reaction was “understandably bittersweet.”

“He had a lot of the same questions we did. How could they not have a license? Had Maggie had an ID tag or microchip, she could have been spayed and been back home last week,” Reyes said.

What do you think?