This pupper casually strolled into a police station to report himself missing

Listen, babies may be cute and all that, but they will never be as smart as dogs. That's my hot take. To prove it to you, here is what Chico, an adorable dog, did when he found himself in a strange place. As he walked around foreign streets, realizing he had wandered very far away from home, he knew he had to ask for help. So where did he go? To the police station, of course, to report himself missing. His owners were yet to file a missing dog report, but he eventually made his way back to them all on his own. Now that's what you call a smarty pants pup.

It was just a regular day at the Odessa Police Department in Odessa, Texas. The officers on duty definitely weren't expecting to see a dog looking up at them over the reception table. As it turned out, Chico strolled into the police department in the early hours of the morning to file a missing person report - or, well, a missing dog report. He was super friendly and didn't seem aggressive at all. In fact, he seemed to be having quite a grand time just hanging out. Among those present at the department was Sergeant Rusty Martin, who noted that the pup appeared to be the least worried about the whole situation. The other officers, he recalled, simply played with Chico until it was time to work on his report.

The police officers played with Chico using a spare tennis ball they had just laying around. "We were all excited to have him in the building," Sergeant Martin shared. "We had a tennis ball and threw it in the lobby for a bit. Everyone loved on him." While it was super fun to play with the cheeky pupper, the Sergeant didn't forget about his case. Unfortunately, the case hit a snag soon enough: Chico had lost his ID tag. Though he was wearing a collar, the tag seemed to have fallen off during his stroll. Therefore, Sergeant Martin called animal control in so they could check for a microchip. Before they could arrive, however, Chico was on his way again. He eventually found his way home - all by himself!

Sergeant Martin, who had uploaded a post to Facebook about the situation, explained, "He ran out just as quick as he came in. The owner responded the next day [to say that] it was his dog and he had returned home. He lives about a mile from the station." Turns out, Chico may just be fit for K9 services! "I was impressed," Martin affirmed. "He may just be cut out for this work." The pupper found his way home and perhaps a new career. As you would assume, the Facebook post eventually went viral. It reads, "So... This happy guy randomly strolled into the front desk of the Police Department last night. We’re thinking he wanted to apply for a K9 position after eliminating a Lassie type situation. He was given lots of love and attention until he decided it was time for him to leave. He let himself out and after an exhausting search was not found. We were relieved to learn he safely returned to his owner. Chico is welcome back anytime."

Facebook users were more than happy to play along. One commented, "The pooch just wanted to see if there were any places on the K9 teams and when he saw that weren't [any] openings, he decided to leave." Another, appreciating his devilishly good looks, wrote, "This is so sweet. What a beautiful dog. He's so cute and adorable." Needless to say, this is one smart dog, alright.