Dog Who Walked Himself Home After Human’s Death in Hit-and-Run Will Train to be a Service Dog

A dog named Patch walked himself home and waited at a neighbor’s front door after a tragic hit-and-run accident that ended his human’s life. Now, Patch is working on a fresh start in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is being trained as a service animal.

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Patch was on a walk with his pawrent, who was visually impaired, when the accident happened at the end of last month, according to WSMV. The Nashville Police Department said that the 50-year-old woman was reportedly hit by a pickup truck and later found by a passerby. She was taken to the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, where she was pronounced dead.

Police say that Patch, left the scene on his own and walked home to a nearby apartment complex where he waited outside a neighbor’s door.

“Officers located her uninjured dog sitting at the front door,” the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shared in a release. Patch was placed with the Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC), who tried to find a family member of the pet’s late owner, but no next of kin was found.

MACC then decided to reach out to Medical Mutts Service Dogs.

“Patch’s owner didn’t have any next of kin, so he found himself without a home. When they learned that Patch had been his handler’s service dog, they reached out to us,” Kelsey Burton, the director of development at Medical Mutts Service Dogs, told People.

Medical Mutts is a nonprofit that trains rescue dogs to be service animals. They promote the collaboration between dogs and people through research, education, and ethical training.

“Unlike the majority of service dog organizations, we use shelter dogs for our programs. Therefore, we have great partnerships with many shelters and rescues. We have been partners with Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control for years. We frequently pull dogs from their shelter to come to our facility as service dog candidates,” Burton says, adding that about 1 in 4 of the organization’s canine trainees become service dogs, while the others are adopted out.

The organization thinks that Patch will do great in his training and might be able to help as a service dog to someone else. The  Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is still investigating the hit-and-run that killed Patch’s human. If you have any information, please contact the police department.

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