Dog Who Walked Home Alone After Owner's Death in Hit-and-Run Will Train to Be a Service Animal

The dog — named Patch — waited at his neighbor's front door after walking himself home following the hit-and-run accident that killed his owner

A dog who walked himself home after his owner was killed in a hit-and-run in Nashville, Tennessee, is working on a fresh start.

The pooch — named Patch — was on a walk with his female owner, who was visually impaired, when the incident occurred on March 22, according to NBC affiliate WSMV.

Per the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the 50-year-old woman was reportedly hit by a Ford F-150 pickup truck and later found by a passerby. The driver fled the scene. She was taken to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, where she was pronounced dead.

Patch, a mixed-breed dog, was uninjured, according to police. He reportedly left the scene on his own, walked himself home to a nearby apartment complex, and waited outside a neighbor's door, according to Today. "Officers located her uninjured dog sitting at the front door," the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shared in a release.

After the hit-and-run, the dog was placed in the care of Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC), which attempted to find a family member of the pet's late owner to claim Patch. No next of kin was found, but that doesn't put an end to Patch's future.

Related:Dog 'Full of Love' Is Still Searching for a Home After 660 Days in a South Carolina Shelter

"We have had a few rescue groups reach out about him already. It does appear he might have had a life as a service dog, in which case a rescue that works with service animals could be a good match for him. That's all kind of premature at this point, though, as right now, our main focus is still on locating his family," Matthews Peters, a representative from MACC, told WSMV about Patch shortly after the dog arrived in the shelter's care.

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After it became clear no one connected to Patch's late owner was available to take over care of the dog, MACC reached out to Medical Mutts Service Dogs.

"Patch's owner didn't have any next of kin, so he found himself without a home. When they learned that Patch had been his handler's service dog, they reached out to us," Kelsey Burton, the director of development at Medical Mutts Service Dogs, tells PEOPLE.

Medical Mutts is a nonprofit that trains rescue dogs to be service animals and promotes collaboration between dogs and people through research, education, and ethical training.

Related:Newly Adopted Dog Holds Owner's Hand 'the Whole Way Home' from the Shelter — Watch!

"Unlike the majority of service dog organizations, we use shelter dogs for our programs. Therefore, we have great partnerships with many shelters and rescues. We have been partners with Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control for years. We frequently pull dogs from their shelter to come to our facility as service dog candidates," Burton says, adding that about 1 in 4 of the organization's canine trainees become service dogs, while the others are adopted out.

Medical Mutts is confident that Patch will do great in training and make a phenomenal friend and service animal to whoever he is matched with next.

"When we are looking at shelters and rescues for service dog candidates, we look for specific traits. We look for dogs with the right temperament, the right age, the right physical traits, and the right health. Patch fit all of these qualifications. Plus, after we learned his story, we knew we had to help turn his story of tragedy into a story of hope," Burton says.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said it is investigating the hit-and-run that killed Patch's owner and is looking for witnesses to the incident.

To learn more about Medical Mutts and how to support the nonprofit's work, visit the organization's website.

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