Kids Who Let Dog Out Into Rush Hour Traffic Come Forward, Will Do Community Service

Last week we reported that two individuals had stopped by The Geek Group on Leonard St. and let their dog, Mackie, out into rush hour traffic. Chris Boden from The Geek Group took to Facebook to find the culprits and hold them responsible. Well, we're happy to report that the kids responsible have come forward, and will be atoning for their actions through community service.

Boden said in a follow up Facebook post that both teens came forward, on their own, and wrote letters of apology for their actions within 24 hours of his original posting.

He then met with both kids and their families, and it was decided that the kids would complete 50 hours of community service at The Geek Group. They'll come in a couple of hours every day after school, and a lot of their time will be spent with Mackie, the dog that they released.

Once they have completed their community service, as long as there are no issues, the matter will be closed. In fact, both kids will be offered free memberships to The Geek Group.

Boden says that this shows that we can work together as a community when it comes to situations like these:

There will be no charges filed. At no point in this have I had to involve the police. We handled this, you and me, together, as a community. Because of that we did not need to set in motion a chain of events that neither of us could control, neither of us could stop, and would have ended in nothing but a huge waste of time, money, and opportunity for those kids and their families.

The lesson here is not just for the teenagers.

The lesson here, is for you.

The police are not a substitute for parenting and community.

Boden acknowledges that, yes, there are times when police need to get involved.

There are times to call the police, certainly. They serve an essential service to our community. But those times are, thankfully, very few and far between for the majority of us. Many of us should realistically be able to go our entire lives having never once dealt with them in the line of duty.

We're so happy that this story has a happy ending. That Mackie is fine, that these kids are being held accountable for their actions without their futures being jeopardized by criminal charges, and that in the end, the community came together to solve a problem.

You can read Boden's full statement below: