Kevin Nebbia of Cliffside Park met Spanky while working. He and others in his department had been responding to calls in the dog's neighborhood over the past year.
When Nebbia, 40, returned from vacation in January, he learned that Spanky's owner had passed away, and the dog was at the Bergen County Animal Shelter in Teterboro.
"I fell in love with that dog," Nebbia told Daily Voice. "He was always very playful."
And so, Nebbia put in his adoption application for Spanky, and went to visit him several times before he was ready to be adopted out.
"I was sweating it for weeks," the officer said, unsure of he was even allowed to have dogs at his place.
But the day his landlord gave him the go-ahead, the shelter did too.
"I ran to some pet stores and got some stuff for him, and then went to the shelter and got him," Nebbia said.
"Now, he's my best friend."
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