By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – An injured stray dog took over an SUV Saturday and refused to let the vehicle’s owners back in after they stopped to help it.

The brown mixed-breed dog was sitting in the middle of Hotel Road, near the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society, early Saturday evening when a woman struck it with her car, police said. Both she and a couple in a Jeep Cherokee stopped to see if the animal was all right.

Because the dog appeared dazed and injured, the couple loaded it into their SUV to bring it to a veterinary hospital.

“But once they got the dog into the vehicle, it wouldn’t let them back into it,” said Auburn police officer Matt Dailey.

Scared and injured, the dog barked and growled whenever the vehicle’s owners approached. When the couple realized they couldn’t get in the car, they called police.

Police called Auburn’s animal control officer, Bentley Rathbun, who used a snare pole to capture the dog.

“The dog came out without incident,” Dailey said.

The dog had only scrapes, police said. It was taken to the nearby humane society.

Both the woman who hit the dog and the couple who stopped to help asked police not to release their names. The woman was not issued a ticket for hitting the dog.

The dog appeared to be a young mixed-breed, possibly pit bull, police said. It was wearing a homemade chain collar, but had no tags.