ByMariah Congedo|June 8, 2020 at 3:33 PM EDT - Updated June 8 at 3:33 PM
TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Thursdays on Tybee Island have gone to the dogs lately. That’s the day dogs needing adoptions join the K-9 For A Day program at the police department.
Officers say the hardest thing about the K-9 For A Day program is saying goodbye to the dog at the end of the day. But for Rocky he never had a goodbye. He found his new home at the police department.
"As soon as he came here to the police department it's like everything about his personality just clicked with our operations and we knew that we wanted him to live here with us,” Tybee Island Police Department Officer Emory Randolph said.
The Tybee Police Department partnered with the Humane Society for Greater Savannah a few months ago for the K-9 For A Day program to raise awareness for adoption. Since then dozens of dogs have found their forever homes.
"100% of the dogs that we have taken out to Tybee have been adopted,” said Biz Austin, with the Humane Society for Greater Savannah.
Rocky was no exception. But instead of a community member adopting him NAT it was the police department.
"2020 has been a stressful year for everyone especially for first responders and law enforcement officers. It's very important that our officers have an outlet to relieve stress. For them to be able to come, pet him on the head and just kind of forget about the rest of the world for a moment is huge,” Randolph said.
Rocky made his debut as an officer, walking along the streets of Tybee sporting his badge and all.
"I just had a feeling like, 'I think this is going to work out!' He texted me and was like everyone loves him, we're adopting him,” Austin said.
Rocky lives at the department 24/7 with his new brothers and sisters. Getting all the playing time and attention during a long day's work.
"His two primary missions are emotional support for our staff, from the moment he walked in the door you could tell a very big difference in morale here at the police department and his other mission is going to be community outreach,” Randolph said.
In fact, Rocky was too nice and failed on his test to serve as protection for the officers.
"The Tybee police are just wonderful and amazing to work with and they love helping the community and helping our pets,” Austin said.
Every Thursday the police department will have a dog to raise awareness for adoption.
Photo: WTOC