Arizona troopers stop traffic for dog stuck on roadway

Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Traffic in Arizona came to a halt on Tuesday, as troopers attempted to rescue a dog stranded on a local roadway.

Gil Estrada shared a photo of the stranded dog pressed up against the barrier of a southbound roadway on Tuesday morning and said Department of Public Safety had been contacted to help.

"Poor fella hasn't moved, up against the Sound Wall," Estrada said.

When DPS officers arrived at the scene the dog quickly sprung into action and attempted to run away near traffic, prompting them to change their approach.

"We have a soft heart, obviously, we want to catch the dog," Trooper Kameron Lee said. "But if we don't stop traffic, people are going to brake for it, and that's going to cause collisions."

An additional trooper was called in and troopers shut down the freeway in an attempt to safely rescue the dog.

"I think we tried to coax him in and then when we got a little bit closer he decided, 'Never mind I don't want anything to do with that I'm getting out of here!'" Lee said.

Arizona DPS eventually decided to simply guide the dog off the freeway, when it sprinted into a nearby neighborhood.

Troopers were unable to track down the dog after it made its way into the neighborhood, but contacted Maricopa County Animal Care and Control to continue the search.