By Callan Tansill-Suddath
The Aegis, Bel Air, Md.
BEL AIR, Md. — As Bel Air police Officer Logan Walsh was wrapping up a patrol shift last week, he noticed a vehicle on the side of Route 24 with its hazard lights on. This, he said, is not too uncommon an occurrence; people hit deer all the time and then pull over.
When he approached to investigate, the car drove away. He then spotted what the car had been obscuring: two donkeys.
“So, I’m stuck there in the middle of [Route] 24 with these donkeys that are running in the road,” Walsh told The Aegis about the encounter on the evening of Nov. 16.
When he called in over the radio to explain his situation, Walsh was initially met with silence.
“It took them a second to kind of process what I said because I was asking for them to shut down the intersection. Cars were still coming and the donkeys were like actively running out in the roadway,” Walsh explained.
He then got back in his patrol car, and positioned it to try to block the donkeys from running between the passing cars.
A deputy from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office stumbled upon the donkey-induced mayhem by chance, and gave Walsh a hand.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office says its officer’s involvement was “minimal and limited to helping assist in coordinating resources,” according to a sheriff’s office statement. But Walsh says the assistance was critical. “It was all teamwork.”
Walsh took a rope he keeps in his car and managed to create leashes for the donkeys, which he tied to a guard rail. His partner, Officer Taryn O’Grady “came in clutch,” Walsh says; she was able to procure a horse trailer from her mother to contain the donkeys.
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The donkeys were traced and returned to their home more than an hour away from where they were found, Walsh said.
Walsh is just happy he could play a part in the event.
“It’s a happy ending all around. The donkeys are safe just in time for Christmas,” Walsh said. “Everybody got a kick out of it.”
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