CHICAGO, (NBC News Channel) -- A small dog who spent much of his Tuesday morning dodging rush hour traffic is expected to make a full recovery after receiving just a cut on the paw from the highway dash.
The Bichon Frise-Poodle mix was seen running on Interstate 55 in Chicago at 6:30 a.m., right in the midst of morning rush hour traffic.
When state troopers tried to get involved, the dog led them on a chase into the woods adjacent to the highway and then off the Harlem exit.
A professional dog rescuer, Ed Kostro, finally caught the dog after seeing the story on the news.
"Since I do rescue all the time I instinctively just jumped in my truck and went out there," Kostro explained. "He was so pooped out by the time I got him, he just let me pick him up."
A vet from Pulaski Animal Hospital gave the pooch a good prognosis after checking him over, saying he was dirty and tired, but that the only injury he had was a cut on his paw.
"It's dirty," Dr. Stan Kalata said. "Probably he was on the street for many, many days or weeks."
The Pulaski Animal Hospital hopes to either find the dog's owner or, failing that, to place him for adoption.
