Six-Year-Old Calls 911, Reports Stuffed Animal Furmergency; Police Respond

On February 9, 2020 six-year-old Natalie Coulter was playing games on one of her mother’s old cell phones. The phone did not have service, but it was connected to wifi — and that’s all it took for Natalie to summon the cops to her door.

The six-year-old dialed 911 but quickly became phone shy, not speaking with the operator other than to inform him that she needed help. The 911 operator and responding officers did their job and took the call seriously, but as officers arrived at the Coulter residence they learned that the injured party was a toy stuffed bunny named Timo.

Natalie’s mother Brittany said that she and Natalie’s grandmother had given Natalie an old cell phone to play games with, not knowing it could still make emergency calls. Fort Collins Police Officer Dane Stratton explained that all cell phones are capable of making emergency calls, regardless of whether service is active and even when connected to wifi-only. As for Timo, Officer Stratton band-aided-up the injured toy rabbit and tried to use the incident as a teachable moment.

“Natalie, if bunny’s hurt we don’t need to call 911. But if you’re hurt or mommy’s hurt, absolutely call us, okay?” It’s not clear from the video that Natalie is onboard with her new protocol.

If you have young kids, police recommend placing gaming phones and tablets into airplane mode to avoid having your own surprise “furmergency” police response. Teach your kids when and how to call 911 — and when not to call, and make sure your kids know to answer the operator’s questions any time they call. Make sure your kids know their own address.

Timo appears to be doing well. The girl in the photo is not Natalie.

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