If there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? 911, of course! But there’s one emergency that stomps out the others. An intruder at your door? Child’s play! A cursed doll running after you with a knife? Pfff, you’re fine! Boredom and a lack of treats? Now you’re asking for war!
Two pups faced just that situation, and once they got their paws on a phone, they called the po-po to file a complaint. But they didn’t call just once. Oh no. They dialed 911 16 times in the span of 30 minutes.
Before we get to the details of the story, dearest readers, I’d like to ask you - have you ever had to call 911? What was your experience like? Your upvotes and follows make a world of difference, so keep them coming and let’s dive into it!
Lakeville, Minnesota’s police department had a very curious day when two pups dialed 911 16 times in the span of 30 minutes
Image credits: FOX 9
Turning up emotional faders, keep repeating self-hating phrases, I have heard enough of these voices, almost like I have no choice! Sorry, I got distracted by Lady Gaga’s song, 911. Now where were we?
Lakeville, Minnesota’s police department had a very curious day back in February 2019, when the 911 dispatcher kept receiving calls from the same number. The idea of 911 is simple: when you need help, regardless of the type of emergency - as long as it’s life-threatening - there's an easy to remember three-digit number that can never be used for anything else.
When a call goes silent, the dispatcher is required to call back, and if they can’t, they’re supposed to send the police; however, what happens when you hear barking at the other end of the line, with calls coming in non-stop? Well, you send a couple of officers to check on the situation, of course!
Two officers were sent to investigate, concerned that someone unable to speak or move was in life-threatening danger
Image credits: FOX 9
“By the time we got there they had gotten three more 911 calls in that span of time,” Officer Michelle Roberts told The Dodo. “In a couple of them they heard dogs barking in the background, but no human voices at all.”
The way 911 dispatchers figure out the address isn’t quite as quick or seamless as movies and the media would have you believe. As explained by WPTV, when you call 911 from your cell phone, the dispatcher does not see your actual location. Instead, dispatch centers have to ask your wireless carrier for your location information.
According to NCT 911, when you call on a cell phone, your location is determined by a combination of network triangulation and trilateration to gain an approximate location, aka within 300 meters of the nearest cell phone tower. That’s about three football fields.
If your police department or sheriff’s office is on a more modern 911 network and if they use device-based hybrid location accuracy (DBH), they may be able to pinpoint your location within 15 meters.
What they found was a lot more humorous - Remy and Bomber, a hound mix and his Papillon partner, greeted the officers after the homeowner allowed them entry
Image credits: FOX 9
Upon arriving, the two officers believed no one was present, yet the calls kept coming. Officer Roberts reached out to the homeowners, asking whether they were able to go inside to double check, and once permission was granted, she and her partner Officer Emily Bares ventured in, only to be met by two excited K9s.
Remy and Bomber, a hound mix and his Papillon partner, seemed to be a bit flustered at first, noting the strangers were not their usual pawrents. “They barked at first and then they were a little timid,” Roberts said. “But that didn’t last very long. They just wanted to be pet and they were super friendly.” She believed there was a human incapable of talking or moving and just calling for help; “I never thought it was the dogs, that’s for sure.”
When the officer walked into the home office during the inspection, she found a forgotten cell phone laying on the desk. “It was on ‘emergency call only,’ so the dogs would have only had to hit the screen with their paw or their nose and that would have enabled them to call 911,” Roberts explained.
They believed that one of the pups could have reached the phone by standing on his hind legs, but it’s more likely that one jumped up on the chair and attacked the phone. But even their owner found the explanation for the 911 calls unlikely.
When looking through the home, the officers found the forgotten phone on the home office desk, believing the pups had used it as a play toy
Image credits: LakevillePD_MN
“He didn’t believe it was the dogs at all until he heard the 911 tape with the dogs barking in the background and you can tell they’re really close,” Roberts said. “Then he seemed kind of baffled.” The homeowner took the phone into AT&T to see whether the phone had malfunctioned, but they found nothing wrong with it.
In total, the dispatcher received 16 calls to 911 from the attention-seeking pooches. And although this was one of the oddest situations Officer Roberts had ever faced, she was glad the emergency turned out to be a silly accident. “Anytime we can laugh and talk about dogs calling 911, if that’s the biggest news of our day that’s a good day.”
Remy and Bomber must’ve been having a ‘ruff’ day, so they took matters into their own paws. The partners in crime were given a warning and let loose to live their lives as regular citizens. However, 911 calls are rarely a laughing matter, as pranks can and will lead to misdemeanor and/or felony charges.
As Shouse Law states, under Penal Code 148.3, it is a crime to make a false report of an emergency, one punishable by one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine. Making a false telephone report of an emergency that results in great bodily injury or death to any person is a felony, punishable by up to three years in county jail and a $10,000 fine. A person convicted of making a fake 911 call is also liable for the reasonable costs of any emergency response.
We hope the pups learned their lesson, as well as their owners - never leave two good boys without their morning treats!
Image credits: FOX 9
More than prank calls, 911 call takers receive a higher number of calls that are dialed by mistake, often made by children or teens (or dogs). In such cases, the authorities may let you off with a warning.
As advised by News Patrolling, if you dial 911 by mistake, do not cut the call, as it will prompt the dispatcher to send a police team to your location. If you or your child end up making a 911 call by mistake, just explain what happened and assure the dispatcher that everything is okay to de-escalate the situation.
We hope the pups learned their lesson, as well as their owners - never leave two good boys without their morning treats! Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below, and I’ll be seeing you very soon in the next one!
Some people were concerned by the fact that it took officers 30 minutes to get to the house, arguing that it could mean life or death for someone in danger
Others came to explain the complex workings of the 911 dispatch, from location tracking to dispatcher protocol
Overall, people loved this story, many making jokes and seeing the humorous side of it. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
