A frightened dog ran nearly a mile through traffic to get help from a dog daycare center after getting into a car accident with his owner in a Detroit suburb.
On February 24, surveillance footage shows Aries, a 3-year-old pit bull/lab mix, running up to the front door of the Detroit Houndstown Metro, bumping into his owner, then sticking his hind legs up and peering inside. It was captured by WXYZ said.
“She ran straight to safety and was trying to get their attention,” said Aries’ owner, Melissa Fickell, 31. told the Washington Post of her beloved dog.
Fickell said he and Aries were driving to a park in Clawson when the light turned green and they were rear-ended.
No one was injured in the accident and the damage to the vehicle was minor, but the impact appeared to frighten the dog.
“Aries likes to keep his head down, so we kept the windows down,” Fickell told WXYZ. “The moment there was that impact and I felt it and heard it, almost instantly she was out the window.”
Fickell told The Washington Post that she was relieved to see her dog sitting on the side of a busy street, but “as soon as she saw me, she turned and ran away.”
“I couldn’t run and chase him because he was in the middle of the road,” the owner said.
Fickell said she tried to call for her dog, but Aries kept running and was quickly out of sight.
The pet owner then stopped the car to look around at several buildings near where the dog was last seen, but police soon arrived and took statements about the fender bender, forcing them to suspend the search. He said that he no longer had any money.
“Couldn’t find it [Aries]And then we had to deal with discussions with the police and insurance companies, so we decided to take it one step at a time,” Fickell told The Washington Post.
The pet owner told officers that his dog ran away in the crash, and that he called officers to alert Aries to Dispatch so other officers could search as well.
Finally, about 20 minutes later, Fickell received a call and text message from Travis Ogden, owner of Hounds Town Metro, where Aries visits once a week.
“[Travis] “I literally fell to the ground because I got a call and they said, ‘She’s here,'” Fickell told WXYZ.
“So many things could have gone wrong since she had to cross a busy four-lane road to get to doggy day care,” she added to The Washington Post.
“I was so grateful to know she was safe in a place she loved.”
Aries showed up at the dog daycare center during the midday break, when employees usually close the lobby and take care of cleaning and other duties, the general manager said. Dominic Pace told USA Today.
He said he went to the front of the store to check his phone messages and emails and was in the lobby with another employee when he saw something outside.
“I noticed something walking past the front door,” Pace said. “It was like a black fuzzy thing passing by.”
Pace thought it might be a dog, so she went outside and found Aries standing by the sidewalk leading to her front door, gasping for breath and saying, “I was a little surprised.”
He then called Ogden, who told The Washington Post he “knew right away” it was Aries, but was stunned to see her without Fickell.
It wasn’t until Ogden called Fickell and learned about the accident that everything made sense.
“Dogs are really smart and know their way,” he explained. “They’re always looking out the window.”
Pace also suggested that Aries may have been able to smell the building or other dogs in the building and run toward it, thinking he would be safe inside.
Ogden noted that she was likely surprised by the collision.
“Aries heard a loud noise. It rocked her world,” he said. “She was running to get out of there and get back to where her friends were where she could find someone to help her.”
Staff gave the dog water and played with it until Fickell arrived to pick him up, The Washington Post reported.
Fickell said she felt the stress and panic of the day only melt away later when she and Aries sat together at home.
“I petted her a lot and told her she was a good dog,” Fickell told The Washington Post. “And that night, she ate an entire taco.”
