"He ran away from Erfurtstraße in Bonn," police officer and dog handler Stefanie Bartnick had reported via Facebook on Saturday. By Monday morning, the post had already been shared almost 1800 times. Then, in the afternoon, came the good news: the dog had reappeared. Passers-by had discovered the dog on Poppelsdorfer Allee, as police spokesman Robert Scholten announced in the afternoon.

According to Bartnick, Mitch is basically friendly and reserved in his dealings with people. Nevertheless, in the search appeals in the social media, one could read again and again that one should not try to catch the dog, but rather notify the police. Is Mitch that dangerous? "In terms of his disposition, Mitch is a dog that the dog handler takes to kindergartens to inform about police work," Scholten explained. "Nevertheless, Mitch is a police dog who has passed exams, not a little cuddly dog. And like any other dog, he can snap when he feels harassed. So it's also quite rightly portrayed on social media that you shouldn't try to corner the dog to catch it."

The nine-year-old Malinois male is "a very experienced police dog", Scholten continued. The dog breed, which is a variant of the Belgian Shepherd and was originally bred as a herding and driving dog, quickly established itself as a service and sporting dog. The Malinois is about the same size as the German Shepherd, but less massive, making it faster and more agile. When a Malinois is chosen as a service dog, the animals are trained and accustomed to the work - so is Mitch. Although the nine-year-old explosives detection dog also has a kennel in the Bonn service dog squad, he spends most of his time with the family of his service dog handler on the Hardtberg. "So he is not a caged dog and has been used to coming home with her for years," Scholten said. Mitch has never escaped in that time - until Saturday.

But how could Mitch run away in the first place? Under her Facebook post, Stefanie Bartnick wrote: "Sometimes there is a chain of circumstances that lead to this happening. Unimaginable, even for me." Police spokesman Robert Scholten explained that it was an "everyday weekend situation" in which Mitch "took advantage of the moment to go wandering“.

Scholten was already in good spirits on Monday morning that Mitch would be found soon. "Two sightings were already reported to the control centre on Sunday, once in Poppelsdorf and once on the Rhine. We don't know if it was actually Mitch. But we assume so - a full-grown, almost black dog with a collar running around without a master is relatively conspicuous." Mitch wears a so-called transponder on his collar. It cannot be used to locate him, but it can be clearly assigned to him. While the officers are hoping for more information from the public, the police are of course also searching for Mitch on their own.

"The dog handler is searching with her family in the immediate vicinity, i.e. where Mitch walks, where he knows his way around." In addition, officers regularly drove to such points where Mitch could be and searched for the animal there. Finally, the decisive tip about the lost dog came from the public. Mitch was discovered in a front garden on Poppelsdorfer Allee.

But can Mitch now continue to work as a police dog or has he disqualified himself for work as an explosives detection dog with his unauthorised walk? "First of all, there is nothing to prevent Mitch from continuing to work as a police dog," said Scholten. Secondly, however, the dog is to be examined by a veterinarian, the police spokesman explained. According to the statement, his handler also does not have to fear any consequences. "There will probably be a conversation in which any attention for the animal will be addressed," Scholten said. "But she is a very experienced dog handler and our primary hope is that Mitch will just come home okay." That is now the case again.