Wellesley Safety Officials Round Up Seven Dogs After Doggie Daycare Van Crash

Wellesley safety officials have been making a name for themselves lately by rescuing dogs. The latest incident was Wednesday, when they collected seven dogs who ran away from a motor vehicle accident involving their doggie day care van.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday, Wellesley police officers were called to the scene of a traffic crash on Brook Street near Juniper. When officer Lamars Hughes and detective lieutenant Cunningham arrived on the scene, they found a small van had struck a utility pole. The van was used for transporting dogs to ‘doggie' daycare. During the crash, the seven dogs being transported escaped from the van. The driver had minor injuries and was evaluated by EMS.
 
Wellesley fire captain Kevin Donahue started looking for the dogs in the nearby area. Two dogs were captured right away, leaving five on the loose. Animal Control officer Sue Webb, assisted by officer Chris Cunningham and Hughes, started rounding up the fleeing dogs. After a coordinated response, and several citizen sightings, two others were located. Another dog was followed and captured in Needham, while the last two fled to Temple Road. 
 
The public was notified of the situation via Twitter, and members of the DPW and Water Department assisted in the search. After the word went out on Twitter, citizens became involved in the hunt on their own, forwarding their sightings to the Wellesley Police Department Dispatch Center.
 
Hours later, only one dog remained at large, Patches. Officer Tim Gover, who was involved in the rescue of Crosby last month, started searching the area of Temple Road near Carlton one last time. Gover noticed some drag marks in the fresh snow leading up to a driveway. A quick check of a snowbank near a house, and a freezing, injured Patches was located huddled next to a house. 
 
Animal Control Officer Webb responded to the scene and took Patches to the vet with lacerations on the face area, as well as some cold related injuries.

Has Wellesley gone to the dogs? Other recent news stories would suggest so. Not only was a dog rescued after falling through the ice of the Charles River, but a K-9 was also injured in December after thwarting the escape of a bank robber in Wellesley.