When no one stepped forward to claim or adopt a ten-year-old mutt found in Rindge, police officer Mike Eneguess decided to take him home.
On July 20, Eneguess adopted the lost dog that had remained unclaimed at the station for three weeks. The dog’s new name is Jax.
“He is my first pet, I never had any growing up,” Eneguess said.
The 24-year-old has been a Rindge police officer since May 2018.
Eneguess first met Jax three weeks ago.
“We had a group of people coming from a wedding on Woodbound Road who saw the dog running down the road with no collar,” Eneguess said. “He was a little skinny when we first got him.”
The lab and beagle mix was gentle and calm when he arrived at the police station’s kennel, Eneguess said.
A veterinarian estimated Jax is about 10 years old.
Eneguess said that he bonded with the dog while attempting to find his owner.
“He had a lot of visits from me and Animal Control Officer (Larry) Harris, who did an awesome job of taking care of him,” he said.
A week passed with no leads, at which point the officers offered the dog to a person who had expressed interest in adopting him. When that arrangement fell through Eneguess stepped in.
“It’s nice with my work schedule to have a dog to come home to,” Eneguess, who works nights, said on Friday.
What’s so special about this dog? “I think it’s his personality. He’s got that older disposition to him.”
Rindge is one of the only area police departments with the capacity to hold animals. Eneguess said that found animals are retained for seven days while officers attempt to find an owner. If they can’t find an owner, then they send the animal to the Monadnock Humane Society, or a longer-term temporary home – or, in the case of Jax, directly to a forever home.
Eneguess said he isn’t the only officer coming home with a new friend: on Saturday, Harris adopted a black kitten that had been at the station a week.
He advises residents to call the police department, or Cheshire County Dispatch if they encounter an animal that appears to be lost.