Police dog Riki and his partner Officer Chris Day.
CARTERSVILLE, Ga - Social media and a bit of K9 karma helped reunite a police dog with his human partner.
The 6-year-old German Shepherd police dog named Riki was spotted wandering along Spur 20 in Bartow County, two days after he was reported missing by his police partner, Officer Chris Day. An Oliver Alert was posted on Facebook. It grew into multiple Facebook postings across the country.
"We heard from people all the way in Hawaii and British Columbia," said Officer Day. "There were hundreds and hundreds of calls from people wanting to know how they could help."
Authorities still don't if Riki was stolen or wandered off on his own. Officer Day suspects someone was involved in the disappearance of the police pooch.
"It's highly possible someone was involved," said Day.
Day works for the Doraville Police Department. He keeps Riki in a pen outside of his home in Bartow County. Tuesday morning, Day woke to discover that the pen was empty. He can't imagine how the animal would have opened the latch of the pen on his own.
"I don't think it's possible," said Day.
Authorities issued the Oliver Alert, the animal equivalent of an Amber Alert, and Riki's face was seen on Facebook all over the world. Local law enforcement agencies all over Georgia posted the alert on their Facebook pages.
"It's like after you lose a kid and find them after a few days, you have so many bad thoughts running through your mind," said Day.
All of the attention paid off. After a homeowner reported finding Riki on Spur 20, the K9 was taken to a vet before returning to Officer Day's home.
Just last week, Officer Day used his Support Police K9 Facebook page to help raise money for Lakota, a Clayton County police dog critically injured in a car accident.
The good deed just may have created the positive karma Officer Day needed to get his missing partner back.
"We're happy to have him home," said Day. "We're ready to go back to work."
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