Lost Dog Saved on Mass. Highway, Reunited With Owner

A lost dog made it home for Christmas thanks to a Massachusetts State Trooper who rescued the furry friend after spotting her in the middle of a busy road, police said this week.

Trooper David Phan was headed home from his shift on Route 3 in Duxbury on Christmas afternoon when he noticed cars swerving to avoid a shadow through the rainy haze, state police said. Phan pulled over to find a dog standing in the middle of the road.

Phan stopped traffic and, with the help of some Good Samaritans, was able put the dog into his cruiser. The dog was a bit wet from the rain but wasn't harmed.

The trooper was able to track down the owner of the dog, who had been searching for her, police said.

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Phan then drove the dog, named Willow, to her home in Pembroke, where she got the chance to be with family on Christmas Day.

Local dog owners gathered together Saturday at a 'pawliday' party in Quincy, to give back to the Quincy Animal Shelter and the MSPCA, during what's often one of their busiest seasons. Instead of a Ho, Ho, Ho, it was a bark, bark, bark at the Victory Point Restaurant in Marina Bay in Quincy, where there was even a holiday dog costume contest. Over the last 22 years, the Quincy Animal Shelter has adopted out more than 7,500 animal, and a few of those have gone to Boston's former police commissioner William Gross.