The loyalty and protective nature of dogs, particularly towards young children, has been demonstrated in numerous examples where missing kids were discovered with their devoted canine, which safeguarded them until help arrived.
A 5-year-old boy who had gone missing was discovered unharmed with the help of his vigilant German shepherd.
Officers of the Houston Police Department received a call on April 2 ,2022 reporting a young boy wandering along train tracks accompanied only by his dog.
According to Sgt. Ricardo Salas of the Houston Police Department, upon discovering the 5-year-old boy, he recognized that the child had Down syndrome and was roughly half a mile away from his residence. The sergeant also noted that the boy’s German shepherd, named Alejandro, had remained by his side as a protective companion.
Sgt. Salas wrote on Twitter, “Witnesses told me the dog was with the little boy when they found him. As I walked away with the boy, the dog followed. This dog was his protector and his angel.”
“It seems like to us that the dog knew something was up, he knew that the child wasn’t supposed to be wandering off and he ended up following him. He was very protective and would not take his eyes off the child,” he told the Houston Chronicle.
Despite the presence of the officers who arrived to assist, Alejandro remained watchful and steadfast, never losing sight of his human companion.
“The dog was following basically everywhere I went. It wasn’t barking, it wasn’t intimidated,” Salas added, saying that when he put the boy in the car the dog “jumped inside the driver’s seat with him.”
Subsequently, the officers were notified of a missing child named Jose and determined that the young boy they had found was indeed him. Jasmine Martinez, the boy’s mother, informed Click 2 Houston that she and her son had dozed off and when she woke up, she discovered that Jose had wandered away.
Fortunately, the situation ended positively, as the boy sustained only minor scrapes and no significant injuries.
The family expresses gratitude, but not shock, that their faithful dog, Alejandro, had safeguarded Jose during the time he was in danger.
Jose’s sister, Samantha Muñoz, said Click 2 Houston, “Alejandro has always been a very overprotective dog since we got him, we got him when he was a baby. I was not surprised when they said he was walking with him the whole entire time.”
Authorities confirmed that no charges would be pressed against the family, and the mother is taking precautionary measures by installing child protective locks to prevent any possible recurrence of such an incident.
Sgt. Salas expressed his admiration for the “level of loyalty this dog had to this little boy” and underlined the significance of the dog’s protective presence given that the train tracks in the area are typically heavily trafficked.
“Thank you God for looking over this child,” he wrote.
It’s fortunate that Alejandro, the dog, was present to ensure the safety of the young boy. You’re an exceptional dog, Alejandro!