Update: 1,200+ People Want to Adopt Banjo, Dog Tied to Train Tracks

Riverside County employees are sifting through more than 1,200 requests to adopt a dog that was found tied to train tracks east of The San Gorgonio Pass area, an animal services spokesman said this week.

Banjo, .

The dog was saved only when a train engineer spotted the little guy tied up, and was able to engage an emergency braking system, according to John Welsh of the Department of Animal Services.

Since his story surfaced, more than 1,200 emails from around the country have come pouring into the Animal Services' inbox, according to Welsh.

"We had hoped to pick an adopter this week, but the wave of emails was so big, that we needed more time," he said. No more applications are being accepted.

Interest in Banjo was so high, that it even crashed the department's website for some time– something that's never happened because of interest in the baby, Welsh said.

A 78-year-old man who tied the dog to the tracks was stopped and questioned by Union Pacific rail agents, but they decided to let him go as "the man appeared to be confused, or senile and didn't fully understand what he had done," according to Welsh.

"It's probably one of the worst things I've seen," said Agent Sal Pina, who investigated the case.  "I've never seen something like this."

The poodle-terrier mix was picked up by an Animal Services officer and taken to the Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms, where he was examined and cleaned up, according to Welsh.  One of the Veterinary Techs nicknamed him "Banjo" as a reference to old traffic signals still seen on various rail lines, he said.

– City News Service contributed to this report.