A COP who saved an abandoned "puppy" was shocked when it turned out to be something much more dangerous.

A member of the public walked into a police station in the US with a box containing what he believed was a lost dog.

But Sergeant Kyle Rybaski and his team at the Bartlett Police Department in Illinois soon realised the "puppy" wasn't quite what it seemed to be.

"He said he was driving by and saw the dog on the side of the road all alone," the officer told The Dodo. 

"He picked it up and brought it in so we would take it to an animal shelter."

After taking a closer look at the little creature, officers noticed some peculiar differences.

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Although the rescued animal seemed very similar to a dog, she was unlike any puppy they'd seen before.

"We soon realised that it wasn’t the average puppy," Rybaski said.

"When I picked her up, her fur had a different feel to it. It was wiry.

"Her paws were a bit bigger than the average dog, too. Her sharp nails also drew our attention."

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Working on a hunch, the cop searched the internet and confirmed his theory – the cute "puppy" was in fact a baby coyote.

The wild animal had apparently gotten lost from her mother, but was in good health, Rybaski explained.

"We found it looked just like a coyote," he said.

"We were very excited. It’s not every day that you get to hold a coyote in your hands. Everybody was like, ‘Aww!’"

Cops contacted the Willowbrook Wildlife Center for help – where she will be cared for with other coyotes to retain her wild instincts.

Cops and medics hope she'll one day be fit for release.

"It was very rewarding, and it’s good to know that she’ll be taken care of," Rybaski said.

"It was a really neat experience."

Another puppy lookalike also fooled its rescuers after being found "wandering and distressed" on a busy road in Massachusetts.

A family had picked up the baby coyote in Cape Cod and unknowingly brought it into their home on April 23.

After realising they had made a dangerous mistake, they hastily called the New England Wildlife Center (NEWC) for help.

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Spokeswoman Nina Flaherty-Bellotti told The Boston Globe that the unnamed family had the animal for "less than 24 hours".

The non-profit wildlife hospital detailed the major mix-up in a Facebook post, explaining that the coyote had been separated from his pack.

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