Citizens Thank Tulsa Police Officer Who Cares For Stray Dogs With Own Money

When several people learning a Tulsa police officer was using her own money to help stray dogs while out on patrol, they decided to give her some help.

They surprised her with a trunk full of dog toys, dog food and $500 in gift cards.

Officer Lauren Opryszek fought back tears when she was surprised with all the goods.

"I was blown away,” said Opryszek. “It's kind of a hard time for us right now. There's a lot of negativity."

Opryszek raced out to a call a dog trapped under a car, on Sunday. She happened to mention she had given her lunch to stray dogs the last three days in a row. It got posted on Facebook and donations poured in for Opryszek. 

"I had to step away from my phone a few times. I just couldn't stop crying,” said Opryszek.  “I was blown away. This rescue community and the citizens of Tulsa are unbelievable.”

Opryszek said she is known as the dog lady at work because not only will she be the first on scene to help a dog in need, but she also uses her own money to keep her patrol car fully stocked with things for dogs.

On her off days, Lauren helps at Mercy Sakes 2nd Chance Animal Rescue, helping find dogs a home.

“Without fosters, donations and volunteers, the rescue world doesn't work,” said Opryszek. "All we want to do is save dogs. It's not really anything we think of as a good deed. It's just what we do, but it's good to see we have a lot of support."

Lauren said she became a police officer to make a difference.

“We see videos of police officers that goes viral that they fed a homeless man, they sat down and had a conversation with a kid and what people don't realize is, you'd be hard pressed to find an officer who didn't do that every day,” said Opryszek.

Opryszek said all of the donations will be used to help even more dogs while she is on patrol, or for Mercy Sakes 2nd Chance Animal Rescue.