Ohio Police Pulled Over A Man With Four Caged Puppies On His Car Roof

"They looked terrified," one police officer told BuzzFeed News.

Police in Akron, Ohio, pulled over a man driving a minivan on an expressway on Friday with four puppies in a partially uncovered cage strapped to the vehicle's roof, authorities told BuzzFeed News.

Akron cops save 4 pups found inside cage attached to minivan roof doing 60 mph on I-76 east. Pups taken to shelter

Police received multiple calls from concerned drivers who had spotted the three-month-old pups in the cage, which was covered with a blanket on the front but left open to the elements at the rear.

At one point five police cruisers were searching for the black minivan as it passed through Akron, Sgt. Kris Beitzel told BuzzFeed News.

"The puppies were physically OK," Sgt. Beitzel said. "They were very shaken up though. They had urinated all over the inside of the cage. As I reached in to check on them they kept moving back away from me."

"They were definitely scared," she said. "They looked terrified."

RT wkyc ".Akron_Police pull over van with caged puppies on roof http://t.co/cj1F1sD8BV " #CLE

Inside the van was a Mennonite man and his family, who had traveled from neighboring Ashland County with the dogs on the roof.

"I'm pretty surprised they got as far as they did without being pulled over," Beitzel said. "They'd been on the road for an hour."

Never understand cruelty of people.RT@HomaBash: puppies rescued from cage on top of minivan on highway. @Akron_Police

Beitzel said the Mennonite man was unaware that he was breaking the law by transporting the dogs on the roof.

"Honestly, they couldn't understand what all the tension was about," she said. "In that culture they just look at puppies as livestock. They don't look at them as pets the way we do."

She said the man agreed to surrender the dogs to local animal control authorities, with police deciding not to charge the man.

"We decided to turn it into an educational opportunity," she said. "He now knows that animals need to ride in the car, not on top."

Beitzel said the puppies were taken to an animal hospital to be checked out and that they'll be put up for adoption soon.

Watch video from the traffic stop here:

View this video on YouTube

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