Suzette Hall and her friend Rosario Ortiz were driving down a busy road in Los Angeles County, California, earlier this week when traffic suddenly slowed to a crawl. The lull in traffic took nearly everyone by surprise, except Hall and Ortiz. The dedicated
dog rescuers with Logan’s Legacy 29 had heard about a pair of dogs sitting in the middle of the road earlier, and they were finally pulling up to the pups’ last known location.
As they inched forward in traffic, the rescuers eventually saw two dogs lying on the road’s centerline, simply watching the cars move around them. It was a heartbreaking scene, made even worse by the number of drivers swerving to avoid them instead of stopping to help.
Hall and Ortiz quickly pulled over, feeling confused about the whole situation. The two dogs were total opposites — one was a large shepherd-mix and the other a small curly-haired pup — but they were seemingly bonded. As traffic flowed around them, the larger dog wrapped herself around her little friend, guarding him with her body.
“And when I say she stood guard, I mean she never left his side,” Hall wrote on Facebook. “He couldn’t have weighed more than five pounds.”
Without skipping a beat, Hall and Ortiz stopped traffic on one side of the road and carefully coaxed the dogs into a neighbor’s yard. They set two metal traps with food, hoping to safely capture the dogs individually. But their mission became slightly complicated when they realized just how attached the large dog, named Nova, was to the smaller pup, Benji.
“[T]his sweet little girl was fiercely protective,” Hall wrote. “She stood over her tiny brother, watching every move we made.”
Hall and Ortiz talked sweetly to Nova as they scooped up Benji and placed him in the crate, attempting to calm her nerves. But even when he was in the crate, Nova refused to take her eyes off Benji, sitting as close as she could to the metal bars.
“[S]he never left his side,” Hall said.
You can watch more footage from their rescue here:
Nova sat outside of Benji’s crate, refusing to go into the second trap until she was finally enticed by the food inside. With both dogs finally in their crates, Hall drove straight to Camino Pet Hospital. And they were soon met with the dogs’ distraught family members.
“I had just arrived at my vet with the two of them when, out of nowhere, their frantic owners came searching,” Hall wrote. “They had been desperately looking for them.”
Nova and Benji’s humans explained that they lived miles away and had been searching for the pair of pups after they’d escaped from their house. It had been a long journey for both dogs, proven by their dirty coats and worn paws, but they were safe thanks to Nova protecting her brother.
“She literally was his hero,” Hall told The Dodo.
Nova and Benji were elated to see their family again, jumping into their arms for long-awaited hugs and kisses.
“I can’t even describe the feeling of reuniting them with their family,” Hall wrote. “Watching their owners’ faces light up with relief and seeing these two babies safe, together, and finally back where they belonged was one of the greatest moments.”
Nova and Benji are now back home and decompressing from the whole experience. Their family has put new safety measures in place to make sure they don’t get out again, and the adventurous duo has stayed put so far.
Although they won’t be able to go on miles-long excursions anymore, every day is an adventure for Nova and Benji as long as they have each other.
“There’s nothing quite like a loyal friend … especially one who never leaves your side,” Hall wrote.
