Sacramento 911 Dispatcher Adopts Shelter Dog Used For Therapy After Officer-Involved Shooting

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A shelter dog and a 911 dispatcher found a special connection to each other this week as the result of a tragic situation, the Sacramento Police Department says.

The dispatcher was working on Wednesday night, which was not his regular shift. His trainee was sick and the dispatcher was offered the day off, but he decided to work anyway. It was during this shift, however, that Sacramento police Officer O'Sullivan was shot and killed, and he handled the channel expertly, according to a Sacramento Police Department statement.

To help dispatch centers after "critical incidents", such as Wednesday's, Front Street Animal Shelter often brings in shelter dogs to act as therapy dogs for the dispatchers. When the animals were brought in, one, in particular, clicked with the dispatcher.

He ended up adopting the dog.

"We like to think they rescued each other," the Sacramento Police Department says.

The dispatcher named the dog Sullivan, or "Sully" for short.