Two weeks ago mystery barking started coming over the police radio in the Clearfield and Lawrence Township area.

“The first thought was that it was an isolated incident, that somebody held their mic down inadvertently,” Director of Public Safety Joe Bigar said. “Then as continued and didn’t let up, it became a more serious issue.”

The issue is that every time the dogs bark, they tie up the radio channel so the police can’t hear anything from dispatch or speak over it.

“It can cause issues if they were needed to get into the dispatch center and get through to us, and we wouldn’t be able to send them help if they needed it,” 911 Coordinator Jeremy Ruffner said.

The barking is believed to come from an unauthorized radio that someone set up as a police scanner, and may be on a voice activation mode.

“People buy these generic or cheap radios and program them themselves,” Ruffner said. “No one should ever be programing these radios on a public safety band.”

So now radio specialists are on the case searching for the canine voices, and Bigar is asking the public to help identify the source.

“If you hear these crooning canines on the audio maybe you can help identify them,” Bigar said.

If they cannot locate the radio, they will bring in the FCC, or Federal Communication Commission, that can track down the radio signal.

Bigar said they do not want to take legal action, as this situation is most likely an accident.