DORVAL – Nacho is Marco Trujillo’s seven-year-old dog, but over the last few years, he’s become more than that – he’s now the tow truck driver’s trusted colleague.
Along with firefighters, police officers and paramedics – Trujillo is often one of the first people on the scene of an accident.
“They get on the scene, they know his name,” he told Global News.
“They don’t know mine, but they know the dog.”
Trujillo has been a tow truck driver for 26 years.
He started bringing his canine friend to work six years ago.
Trujillo said he started bringing Nacho along on his calls after he noticed accident victims were more relaxed in Nacho’s presence.
“He stays calm,” explained Trujillo.
“He calms the kids, calms everyone who gets stressed in an accident.”
Trujillo said it took about 18 months to fully train his dog to stay near accident victims at the scene.
Nacho, who wears his own reflective safety vest, seems to love his job.
“In the morning, I wake up and he’s in the bed with me,” said Trujillo.
Trujillo’s dispatcher, Glen Comeau, said he didn’t want a dog in the truck at first, but Nacho gradually became a part of the team.
“The fact that he goes to accidents and the firemen sometimes take Nacho and give him to a young child,” said Comeau.
“Maybe there’s a parent that’s been injured in an accident and the child is a bit nervous and stuff and Nacho seems to calm them down.”
Comeau said Nacho tagging along wasn’t something that he planned, but he’s glad it happened.
“We have customers, the police, Urgences-Santé and the firemen – everybody’s getting to know him,” he told Global News.
Trujillo said Nacho is truly making a difference in the community, one call at a time.
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