





While out working on a story in freezing New Jersey, a reporter and camera crew from New York station WABC-TV noticed a dog left out in the cold.

Hours later, when they passed by again and saw that the dog was still outside, they decided to take the issue to Twitter, and the mayor.

Reporter Toni Yates tweeted N.J. Mayor Cory Booker and WABC. In the tweet, she applauded Newark for its heat help, but added, "Make pet owners get their dogs out of the cold."

In another tweet, she wrote that she asked the block captain to "do something, call someone," but doubted he would.

People began re-tweeting the messages, and soon enough the mayor was on the scene with the shivering dog.

"This is brutal weather. This dog is shaking really bad and you just can't leave your dogs out here on a day like this and go away and expect them to be OK," the mayor told WABC. "Hypothermia on any animal including a human animal will set in pretty quickly. So this is very sad. You can just feel the dog shaking pretty badly."

Booker picked up the dog and put it into the back of a police car.





"If you'd crank up that heat, I'd appreciate it," he told the police officer.

Booker, 43, called the dog's owner and told them it was unacceptable to leave the dog outside in the freezing weather, WABC reported.

The owners said they were in Queens, N.Y., and did not know that Cha Cha had gotten outside. They said it was an accident and thanked the mayor for saving the dog, a new mother.

Booker, who's exploring a run for U.S. Senate, later tweeted the reporter, "Because of you that dog was rescued. Thank you for reaching out. Thank u for your kindness."

This is not the first time Mayor Booker has come to the rescue.

Booker returned home one evening in April to find flames shooting out of his neighbor's home. A woman screamed that her daughter was still inside.

The mayor and two of his security detail ran inside to rescue the woman, who Booker said he had known for years. He carried her out of the building over his shoulder and the woman was treated for smoke inhalation and released.