‘This is crazy’: Dog on mend after being seen unstrapped on Indiana expressway

LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — A dog is on the mend in police care after a viral video Tuesday in northwest Indiana showing him unstrapped on a trailer.

Ryan Jackson, of Hammond, was getting on I-80/94 westbound at around 11:45 a.m. near Calumet Avenue and got behind a black SUV hauling a trailer.

He quickly noticed the SUV wasn’t pulling a piece of equipment or goods, but a shivering dog in a crate.

Jackson was first astonished at the sight.

“Are they getting on the highway for real?” he told WGN News. “I thought ‘man this is crazy.'”

His next instinct was to document it for awareness and potentially for law enforcement after realizing the dog’s cage was not strapped in at all to the trailer.

“It was a low trailer and the dog looked scared,” Jackson said. “As it approached the semi it looked very freaked out.”

In part of the video, the SUV goes over a bump and the dog was slightly lifted into the air while looking uncomfortable.

“It was 28 (degrees) out and I was going about 70-80 and they were going a little faster than that,” he said.

Jackson couldn’t really see inside the SUV due to tinted windows, but noticed there was a driver and passenger. He believes they noticed he was filming them because they swiftly exited the interstate at Grant.

Jackson kept driving and called authorities. Indiana State Police responded.

The exact details on how the dog, a male, was found by ISP are not known at this time, but they put out a happier update regarding the dog Tuesday evening.

Jackson was told an off-duty K9 handler learned about the situation and showed up to the scene. ISP released a video showing the dog warming up to the handler with the power of treats.

Indiana State Police said that the dog is being held at a safe undisclosed location and will be receiving treatment.

A suspect has been identified and more information will be released on Thursday morning regarding potential charges, ISP said.

They posted a picture of the dog looking quite stoic next to a squad car after being saved.

Jackson hopes the video is an “eyeopener” and wants the dog to get a better life. He said customers have been calling his business nonstop trying to adopt the dog after he posted the video to Facebook.

“A key point for me is that not everyone in the world has common sense,” Jackson said. “If someone is in a similar situation where they don’t know if they can or can’t do it, hopefully it’s an eyeopener.”