There are so many stray dogs in the world, just relying on the occasional kindness of humans to get by. While many people pass them by, there are also nice people who will stop to give them some food or even a home.
When one woman was followed home by an abandoned dog she met at a gas station, she knew she had to help — leading to a happy ending for this poor pup.
According to The Dodo, Leilani Wong was on a road trip with her husband when she stopped at a gas station in Stockton, California.
During fill-up, Leilani noticed a dog wander up to their car — all alone in the scorching 105-degree heat.
“I saw her walking around the gas station, and she stopped in front of our car and was just staring at me,” Leilani told The Dodo. “And I’m hitting my hand on the window, trying to get my husband’s attention, like, ‘Are you seeing this?’ Then she started following my husband around the car.”
Asking around to see if the dog belonged to anyone, she found out that the gas station was often used to dump unwanted dogs, leading her to conclude the poor girl was abandoned.
“We looked everywhere for a family, Leilani wrote. “There were no houses. We left our info at the gas station.” The dog also did not have a microchip.
Not willing to leave the dog alone to suffer in the heat, and seeing that the stray was already attached, Leilani took the dog in and gave her a ride.
She documented her adventure in a TikTok video. They named their new friend “Kaia.”
They gave Kaia a much-needed bath, and noticed how much the dog must have struggled while fending for herself.
“She was so dirty and her ribs were poking out,” she wrote on TikTok.
At the end of their journey they took Kaia back to their home in Washington. They took her to the vet, where she got all her shots. The dog then made herself comfortably at home.
“We were very close to dropping her off at the pound, but after lots of tears and anguish we realized we couldn’t do it,” Leilani wrote on Instagram. “She is the sweetest, lovable, most gentle peanut you will ever meet.”
But while she loved Kaia, Leilani wasn’t sure if she had the right “forever home” for the dog. She already had a few other dogs, who didn’t seem thrilled about the new addition
“I’m worried we are spreading ourselves thin,” she wrote.
Leilani searched for a new home for the dog, taking care of her until she could find a perfect forever family for Kaia.
Thankfully, she did: according to an update on the Instagram post, Leilani found a new home for the dog with a family member. “We are lucky because she gets to stay in the family!”
