Earlier this week, veterinarian Letícia Leitão was staying at her aunt’s house in rural Brazil for the weekend when that relaxing getaway took an unexpected turn.
One morning, Leitão decided to go for a run along the quiet countryside roads. But when she
arrived at a spot that Leitão described as “the middle of nowhere,” things suddenly weren’t so quiet.
From a small hole in the ground, which opened onto a broken drainage pipe, Leitão could hear the desperate cries of an animal in need.
Looking into the hole, Leitão couldn’t see the source of the sound at first — but she knew it was a young dog.
“I immediately suspected something might have gone wrong,” Leitão told The Dodo. “So, I decided to investigate. Just then, an adult female dog appeared — I assumed she might be the puppy's mother.”
Leitão coaxed the seemingly trapped puppy out of the pipe. Then, as video of the incident shows, both dogs joined Leitão for the rest of her journey.
“On the way back, they kept me company and made me feel much safer, since I had been walking alone in a remote area,” Leitão said. “They followed me all the way back to my aunt's house, came inside with me, and sat by my side while I stopped for lunch.”
Leitão later learned that the dogs hadn’t been abandoned. They belonged to a neighbor and were known to take themselves on adventures — which, in this case, had clearly gone awry. Fortunately, the dogs soon found their way safely back home.
Had Leitão not chosen that particular road for her run that day, there’s no telling how long the puppy might have remained inside the pipe, crying with no one around to hear.
