Animal welfare officers in Providence, Rhode Island got a much-needed bit of levity in their day recently and it's gone viral.
A concerned motorist messaged them about a dead dog on the side of the road. She couldn't stop, but she gave officers a description and location hoping they might be able to collect it and notify the owners. Officers went out and found ... well ... not a dog.
We don't know a lot about Kristen Polletta. We know she has a smartphone, we know she's got a big heart, and we know she's not afraid to let those powers combine.
We also know she's totally not afraid to laugh at herself. While heading to a meeting, Kristen passed what she swore was a dead dog.
She was even pretty positive about the breed—a schnauzer or maybe a yorkie. She knew she didn't have time to stop, but she absolutely had time to shoot a message to someone who could help.
Kristen pulled up the Facebook page for Providence Animal Control and reached out.
Erika Cole, the Director of animal control, told Bored Panda that calls to their facility are rarely untrue. Officers were caught off guard because the area Kristen described was mostly shops and businesses with very few homes.
It would have been strange to find any dogs there, but they take every report seriously and went in search of the unfortunate little animal. Cole says officers were fearing the worst, but got a "much-needed laugh" when they arrived on scene.
They were expecting to find the body of a dead dog with a pink or purple collar, but instead they found this:
Providence Animal Control Center/Facebook
Kristen had accidentally dispatched animal control officers to the scene of a dead wig—and everyone involved thought it was hilarious. She kept up a brief chat with officers, had a good laugh at her own expense and eventually shared screenshots of the conversation on social media.
Here they are in all their glory.
Providence Animal Control Center/Facebook
Providence Animal Control Center/Facebook
Providence Animal Control Center/Facebook
Providence Animal Control Center/Facebook
Facebook had a blast laughing along with them.
But we don't want you leaving thinking that Kristen is the only person whose eyes played tricks on them.
Let's go back to Erika Cole, the animal control director, for this. They got a call around Thanksgiving from a person who claimed to have found mummified kittens tied up in a bag.
We'll let her take it from there.
"A day or two after Thanksgiving, we received a similar complaint of a bag of dead cats and mummified kittens. Of course, that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and you go in to 'I'll find you' mode."
"The kind complainant was very upset and even sent a screenshot of Google Maps to show us exactly where the bag was. Once the ACO arrived at the scene, she called me to say that the bag contained someone's turkey dinner…or, what was left of it and that the mummified kittens turned out to be stuffing."
"A child who lived across the street came out to see what was going on and asked the officer why she was going through a bag of someone's Thanksgiving dinner?!!"
"Regardless of how silly or serious a call may or may not be, we are very grateful that our citizens take on the task of being the eyes and ears of Providence."
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
