The pit bull mix pup, named Bolo, “showed up for a one-day visit and ended up finding his fur-ever home,” the Hopkinsville Police Department wrote
A Kentucky rescue dog is ready to “paw-trol!”
The canine, a pit bull mix named Bolo, recently became the first-ever “paw-trol officer” at the Hopkinsville Police Department (HPD).
Bolo was sworn in by Hopkinsville’s mayor, James R. Knight Jr., at a city council meeting on Nov. 7, and the City of Hopkinsville shared a video of the ceremony on its Facebook page.
The pup, who was the last to be sworn in at the meeting, received applause — and lots of “aw”s — as he stepped up to the mayor.
After taking his oath — “I, Bolo, do solemnly swear to support the citizens of the City of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, as I serve as Paw-trol Dog” — the pup signed it with an inky paw print.
“Many of you have kept up with Bolo — the pit bull mix who stole the hearts of Hopkinsville Police Department staff during a visit from the Christian County Animal Shelter,” the city captioned the video. “Well, on Tuesday, during the Hopkinsville City Council meeting, Bolo was officially made a part of the team and sworn in by Mayor JR Knight as HPD’s very first Paw-trol Officer! We can’t wait to follow this sweet pup’s career on the force.”
HPD shared the news with a post of its own. Alongside a photo of the pup rocking his new badge, the department wrote, “Last but not least, Bolo got sworn in alongside his ‘coworkers’ as HPD’s Paw-Trol Dog! Congratulations to all!”
Bolo arrived at the department in early October as part of an adoption event with the nearby Christian County Animal Shelter.
His temporary visit quickly became a permanent stay.
“When the Hopkinsville Police Department started the #PawtrolWednesday program this week, they didn’t think it would lead to a new member of the HPD family. But then Bolo arrived and stole everyone’s hearts,” the HPD wrote on Facebook.
Bolo “showed up for a one-day visit and ended up finding his fur-ever home,” the department added.
“So the plan was every Wednesday, we would bring one of the dogs from the shelter here at the police department, let them interact with people, give them a little bit of advertisement on Facebook, social media, and hopefully help them find a home,” HPD Police Chief Jason Newby said in a video on Facebook.
But after Bolo, the first Pawtrol Wednesday pup, showed up, the “plan” dissolved. “Oddly enough, everybody fell in love with him,” Chief Newby said.
“So when it came time for him to go back that day, they got him in his cage, and he kind of dropped his head and whimpered, and everybody’s heart melted, and we decided to adopt him,” he added.
Royale Marfil, the HPD public information officer, said that Bolo, who had been at the shelter for several months before his adoption, was understandably “shy and timid” initially, but the two became “attached pretty quickly.”
Since the police department has become the rescue dog’s home, the agency’s staff members have been spoiling Bolo with treats, pizza crusts, and biscuits, according to Chief Newby.