From pit bulls in patrol cars to owls in cages, officers across the southwest suburbs are helping strays find their way home — or finding them new ones.
Officer Jessica Martinez didn’t expect to bring a dog home that day. It was April 21, almost 11 years ago, when she spotted what she thought was a fox trotting down Kean Avenue in Hickory Hills.
“She was skin and bones,” Martinez said. “All her ribs were out. No chip, no collar. I called around. Nobody ever reported her.”
The dog, now named Lucy, turned out to be a pit mix — emaciated, scared, and likely abandoned. “She was super timid and food aggressive because she was starving,” Martinez said. “But I knew I’d take her in if no one claimed her.”
They’ve been family ever since. Martinez, who now has two dogs, said Lucy had to adjust to her younger dog at first. “They were fighting at first,” she said. “But then they were really good together.” Now, Lucy struts through the house with what Martinez calls a Napoleon complex. “She walks around like she owns the place,” she said.
Across the southwest suburbs, police officers are performing quiet acts of animal rescue. In Hickory Hills, Palos Heights, Palos Hills and Palos Park, they’re scanning for microchips, making Facebook posts, calling shelters — and, when all else fails, bringing animals home themselves.
Hickory Hills Police Chief Adam Gulczynski said the department regularly deals with stray or abandoned animals. “We’ll scan the dog for a chip, take a photo, post it on Facebook. We’ll call neighboring departments to see if anyone reported it missing,” he said. “If not, we bring the dog back here and keep them in our head bay.”
The department doesn’t have a dedicated animal control unit, so officers improvise. One donated a crate from home. Gulczynski remembered one case involving two pit bulls riding in the department’s UTV. “They looked neat sitting in there,” he said. “Until they chewed up the steering wheel.”
Over time, some of the animals end up staying for good. “Dispatchers have taken in a few. One took two, another took one. A retired officer adopted one. It happens more than you’d think,” he said.
Martinez’s adoption of Lucy isn’t the only one. She created a collage featuring several animals that were eventually adopted — including a little white dog who went to an officer’s grandmother, a big pit bull who went to a friend of the department, and a shepherd rehomed with a retired lieutenant’s friend from CPD. She says it happens more often than people realize. “We literally just got a dog back to its owner two minutes ago,” she said. “I was waiting for your call and thinking, I’m going to miss it.”
In Palos Hills, Police Chief Jeffrey Cucio said animal calls aren’t constant, but they do happen. “If we find a dog and someone calls soon after to report theirs missing, that’s always the best outcome,” he said. “We can’t keep dogs here at the PD for long, but if it’s in a short amount of time, we can reunite the dogs or animals with their families.”
While most animal cases are handled by a designated officer, sometimes patrol officers take the lead, especially after hours. Cucio said residents occasionally express concerns about shelters’ policies, but the department does its best to ensure animals are placed somewhere safe. “We want these animals cared for, wherever they go,” he said.
Palos Heights Deputy Chief Mike Yott said his department has seen a noticeable uptick in stray animals over the last couple of years, especially dogs. “We have a chip reading device that is sometimes helpful for locating owners,” he said. “We’ve also had some success with posting on Facebook.”
When an owner can’t be found, the department works with a vet in Tinley Park who boards the animals and helps find new placements. “We’ve had a few success stories,” Yott said. “Three or four animals we picked up ended up adopted — either by someone from the city or a relative. It’s nice to see.”
Morgan Pukula, administrative assistant at the Palos Heights Police Department, has played a key role in tracking these cases. She said animals are held for a seven-day stray period through a local vet before any next steps. “After that, we start making calls,” she said. “We’re not contracted with anyone. We just do our best.”
Sometimes, that means finding homes through city staff. “One officer’s dad had just lost his dog,” she said. “He came in, held this puppy in his arms — and that was it. Done deal.” Another city hall employee adopted a pit bull puppy almost instantly. “She came over and said, ‘Yep, I want that one,’” Pukula said. “It was like picking out China.”
Pukula said most animals that come in are dogs, though a few cats — and even one owl — have made their way into the station. “The owl was sick or injured,” she said. “It was the coolest thing. We had it in a cage. I’d never seen one up close.”
Not every animal call involves four legs and fur. Hickory Hills officers once responded to a snake found in an apartment. Pukula said chickens have even turned up in Palos Heights. “You just never know,” she said. “Sometimes people bring them right to the front door.”
Still, the process isn’t always smooth. “Sometimes a dog is chipped, but we still can’t access the information,” Pukula said. “And we’re like — what are we doing here? I thought the point was to reunite the dog with its owner.”
Even with community support and cooperative vets, there’s still a cost. “When we bring a dog to Hinsdale, it costs us,” Chief Gulczynski said. “It’s an impound fee. It’s coming out of the department, which means taxpayers.” Finding placement isn’t easy. Some shelters operate under no-kill policies and fill up fast. “We’ve tried for years to find a place that could take our strays,” Gulczynski said. “It wasn’t until recently that Hinsdale was able to take us on.”
In Palos Park, animal encounters are routine. “When you patrol Palos Park, animals and critters of all types are part of your daily routine,” Chief Joe Miller said. “We don’t just engage with the human population on any given patrol shift.” The department made headlines in 2015 after rescuing a pit bull mix abandoned on the roadside — a case that drew media attention and community praise.
For officers like Jessica Martinez, the work is second nature. “I’ve always been an animal person,” she said. “If I see a dog, I’m gonna go try to grab it.”
Lucy, once a stray starving on the street, is now a full-fledged member of the family. “She was scared when I found her,” Martinez said. “Now she’s got a home. I can’t imagine not having her.”
In between the calls and patrols, they’re helping more than just people — sometimes it’s a dog, a cat, or something with feathers or scales that needs a second chance.
