Fresno police officer stops to feed hungry, stray dog who was picking through trash

Correction: The police officer was misidentified in the original version of this story. The officer's name is Sean Morris.

For a brief moment Monday, a few parents of students at Edison-Bethune Charter Academy were startled to see a police car across the street as school was let out Monday afternoon in southwest Fresno.

But a second look turned worries into praise when they saw a Fresno police officer feeding a stray dog who’s known around the neighborhood as being friendly, though somewhat dangerous looking.

Marty Solis, a truancy officer at Edison-Bethune, snapped a photo of Officer Sean Morris down on one knee while feeding the hungry, stray pit bull mix who was sifting through trash and was trying to eat a dead squirrel in the middle of the road.

Morris apparently had noticed the pit bull mix walking around the neighborhood earlier and decided to make a quick stop in a nearby store for dog food.

He then placed a bowl of dog food along a sidewalk to prevent the dog from going on the road to eat the squirrel, and eventually gave the dog more food after it scarfed down on the first bowl.

The dog was so skinny, its ribs were exposed from its side, Solis said.

“It was cool to see the officer do that,” said Solis, who’s worked at the elementary school for 17 years. “You know, usually when the kids see an officer, they think something bad happened. Some of the parents had stopped and were worried.

“But then we saw the kind gesture. It was real heart-warming.”

Solis’ photo post gained plenty of popularity on social media.

“That’s awesome,” commented Pat Torres. “Thumbs up to this awesome officer.”

Added Sally Sen Lam: “Amazing work out there Fresno Police!”

This story was originally published February 28, 2018 at 12:08 AM with the headline "Fresno police officer stops to feed hungry, stray dog who was picking through trash."