Good news: York Co. police help family find lost dogs. Better news: The kid called 911.

When Linda Amaro's two dogs spotted a deer running across their Newberry Township property Saturday afternoon and bolted outside to chase after it, her 9-year-old son knew what to do.

Elijah grabbed his mother's phone, casually walked off and called 911.

"I called the police, Mom, and they're going to call you back for your address so they can help us find the dogs," he told her.

Township police Officer Taylor Nauman was dispatched to the Amaro home. When Elijah's brother, 10-year-old Eddie, saw the officer, his face lit up.   

"I know you!" Eddie said to Nauman.

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Both Elijah and Eddie attend Newberry Elementary School and see the department's officers there on a regular basis, so they feel comfortable around them, Linda Amaro said.

"It was a neat lesson for them to know they could call the police, and they would help them," she said Sunday.

In the video below see the dogs intent on treats as Linda Amaro describes how her dogs were found. (the story continues below)

A short time later, the family's two pit bull-mix dogs, 1-year-old male Chico, and 4-year-old female Lizzy, were back at home, thanks to the efforts of both Newberry and Fairview police departments, and also York County 911.

Cops in schools

Newberry Township Police Department Lt. Steven Lutz said Monday that since the terrorist attacks in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, the department has required its officers to walk through the township's three elementary schools each day.

"It does two things — it allows the children to become familiar with them and develops a rapport, and it allows our officers to get a good layout of the schools," in case they need to respond to one of them for an incident, Lutz said.

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Just from this interaction alone, Lutz said he could tell the directive to officers has been a fruitful one: Elijah felt he could call on police to help, and Eddie immediately recognized Nauman.

Chico and Lizzy back home

Amaro said it was about 1 p.m. on Saturday when Lizzy spotted the deer. Being the talented dog that she is, she was able to use her paws to turn the knob on the door so that she and Chico could sprint after it.

"They like to play with everything," Amaro said of the dogs. "We were all out looking, all my family and friends, hollering for them."

When the dogs could not be found, worry set in, especially with one of her older sons, Joey Santos, who is Lizzy's owner. Joey had to go to work that night, but didn't want to leave before the dogs were found, Amaro said.

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Back home, she found out that Elijah had called 911 and spoke with Nauman.

Some distance away in Fairview Township, Chico and Lizzy couldn't find the deer, but they found a couple other dogs with whom to play.

The owner of the other dogs had already called 911 to report that somebody might be missing their dogs. So when Amaro's dogs were reported missing, 911 was able to put the two reports together.

Newberry and Fairview police then pulled into Amaro's driveway about 3 p.m. Saturday, reuniting the dogs with their family.

"My boys were so ecstatic," she said. "We're very, very grateful."

Contact Ted Czech at 717-771-2033