The Raid
“Ruff? RUFF! RUFF!”
My dog Max jumped up against the fence, wagging his tail furiously. Looking at him, you never would have known his sad past besides a few scars. Max was subject to an illegal dog fighting ring, being used by very twisted people to earn money and underground fame. The only reason I got ahold of him is because of my position as a police officer. I work in the organized crime division of the force, so It was my job to rally the officers when the call came.

It was 8 o’clock when we got a call from an anonymous business owner. He reported seeing 5 people entering the backdoor of the warehouse down the street, carrying large boxes and crates. He said this wasn’t the first time he saw this happen, but he had seen it too many times to not report it. Now, it was on us to see what was going on.

We had gotten reports before of a dog-fighting ring in the area, but we were never sure just where they were located. But now we had a place to look: the warehouse. This had been our goal for a long time, we only had one chance at this.

“OFFICERS! PREPARE YOUR RAID GEAR AND MEET ME IN THE GARAGE IN 5” I shouted. We had to hurry if we were going to get there before any animals were killed.

The station was chaos. Everyone was running around, grabbing their things and heading to the armory where the raid gear was held. Everyone knew that the would need to be alert and prepared if they were to do this. I chugged the last of my drink and started running to the garage. On the way, I grabbed my raid gear from the armory and a candy bar from the vending machine. Finally, it was time to do this.

“Officers! Today you will be performing an operation to possibly save abused dogs and end a dog-fighting ring. This may be the most dangerous, most important mission of your lives. It is up to all of us to make this work, which is why I will be going in with you!”

Surprised whispering erupts from the crowd of armor-clad officers in the garage.

“We will be stationing men on the roof to jump through the windows and sending officers through the front door and the the basement. Our main objective is to capture the criminals committing this crime and save the animals forced to take part. Get ready, we leave in 5.”
Levengood 2

The officers all hopped in the trucks and we headed down the road towards the warehouse. We had been waiting for this moment for a long time. This would be huge. Soon, we pulled up to the warehouse silently and set up in our spots. I would be going through the front door with the smallest group of people.
“On the count of 3” I whispered
“One…. two….THREE!”
Crashing noises resound through the building as we burst through the front door into a room filled with people. Tons of growling can be heard as the dogs stored in small cages struggle to escape.
“HANDS UP! NOBODY MOVE!” I shout as various people throughout the building begin to bring their hands to their weapons. The dealing of money and transport of animals suddenly stops. Our officers move in and march the criminals out to trucks waiting on the road.

After getting all the people out, we had the dogs to deal with. We had to put together a major animal rescue operation to pull this off. Everyone started grabbing crate after crate filled with dogs of every age, breed, and gender. Truck after truck was filled with the animals as we waded through the crates. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something I didn’t expect. A dog, in a cage, sticking its snout through the bars and... licking my boots? I kneel down to look at the cage. The dog whimpered and rubbed its head against the bars. Why was this dog so nice?

“You know what?” I thought to myself. “ I am taking this dog”

Looking both ways, I slipped away through the basement with the dog that would come to be named Max.