Dog 'tags' dangerous gun-wielding thief, now police need your help to leash him in.

To the many people put there who oppose allowing dogs sit with their owners at restaurants, even outside, open-air restaurants, please take heed to  the following:

The owners of two music stores and a gas station attendant are glad that Santa Cruz is not one of those communities than ban our faithful dogs from sitting with their companions, especially a dog named Butch Cassidy.

 Butch Cassidy, a small, 10-month-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi herding dog -- and his human companion, Kyla Rowe, were sitting outside a Santa Cruz restaurant  around 5:40 p.m. last week, when a robber ran out of a music shop just up the street with an electric guitar reportedly worth $5,000. Butch, who tends to have a protective nature in regards to Kyla, reacted to the sudden burst of activity by barking and growling at the man rushing by, startling him enough to make him drop his cell phone.

Kyla and Butch retrieved the phone and took it to the owner of the music store, who turned it over to the investigating police officer.

Through tracing the cell phone number, and later using a photo lineup, the robbery suspect has now been identified as Jorge Huante, age 24, Latino male, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, 180-195 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, who as of this writing is still at large.

When asked about the incident by Santa Cruz Sentinel staff writer Jennifer Squires, Ms Rowe, a fourth-year psychology student at UC Santa Cruz and Butch's human counterpart, replied, "My dog freaked out and jumped into the sidewalk barking and growling. He has a pretty scary bark but the guy must have not actually looked at him," she said. "He's 25 pounds. His bark is definitely worse than his bite."

Maybe, but much to the delight of the folks at the music stores and the gas station attendant, who were all threatened with a semi-automatic handgun during the robberies, Butch's bark was enough to panic the robber into dropping his cell phone near Butch before running away with the expensive guitar.

So, just who is this diminutive guardian of the streets? Butch is originally from Battle Creek, Michigan, born on 4/17/2009 (Kyla is from Ann Arbor, but didn’t volunteer her birthday.) and is a seasoned air- traveler, having now flown back and forth between Michigan and California twice (to visit his fellow pups, I suppose). He shares space with Kyla and university classmate roomies, where his chief interests, when not protecting the student body, include paper products (he loves to shred) and “battling” other dogs at the dog park and beach. He also appears to be fine-tuned to those around him and is highly protective against  vibes that seem off (hence robber woof incident), but equally sensitive to shifts in his human companion.

Kyla reports that when she  is experiencing, lets say, less-than-optimal feelings, Butch becomes a snuggle-bunny to comfort her, sometimes even before she knows she needs his caring attention.

So now that Butch, by bravely barking out, has helped tagged the robber, it’s up to the good Citizens of Santa Cruz to help the police put a leash on him.

Police ask anyone with information about the holdup call the Investigations Bureau at 420-5820 or the anonymous tip line at 420-5995.  Please note that Santa Cruz police Capt. Steve Clark warns that, "Mr. Huante should be considered armed and dangerous." And should not be approached.

Meanwhile, Butch Cassidy, the dog, named after Butch Cassidy, the notorious train and bank robber, has brought redemption to the once infamous name. "My housemates are jokingly calling him an American hero now," Kyla said.

Let’s hope the store owners agree and all send Butch a nice gift basket of healthy dog biscuits!

You go, dog!

Woof for Now
DawgHugger
Wrapping my arms around all things Dog

> Read the Santa Cruz Sentinel story by Jennifer Squires.