When Officer Michael Ely arrived at a home that caught fire in Aurora, Illinois, he began searching for anyone who might still be inside. He was about to declare that the house was empty ... until he saw a leash hanging in the kitchen. He immediately began searching the house for the pup, Oakley, and found him behind a doggy gate in the bedroom. Officer Ely took down the gate and tried to grab him. Instead, Oakley took off running down the hallway. Officer Ely was frustrated, unsure of where Oakley was going. The pup looked back to make sure the officer was following him, then swiftly led him to the kitchen. He stopped directly under his leash and patiently waited for Officer Ely to catch on. “You’re a good boy,” Officer Ely said to Oakley in a video of the rescue. Oakley knew they needed to get out of the house. He also knew that he couldn’t leave the house without his leash. He did what needed to be done as quickly as he could, and Officer Ely was immediately touched by ...
Two years ago, Evelyn Flores received a text from her boyfriend that broke her heart. Outside his workplace in Mexico, he’d spotted a black and white dog sitting on the side of the road with no owner in sight — but she wasn’t quite alone . Evelyn Flores Next to her was a plastic bag packed with dog toys, presumably all the little pup’s earthly possessions. It was clear that she’d been abandoned. Evelyn Flores Unable to assist the dog that day, Flores headed to the spot the next morning — and sure enough, the pup was still there. She'd been waiting in the hope that her family would eventually return for her. But instead, in the intervening hours, the little dog had suffered yet another heartbreak. “Someone had stolen the bag of toys,” Flores told The Dodo. “They left the bag empty.” The pup was using it as her bed. Evelyn Flores “The little dog was waiting for her family to come back for her,” Flores said. “I don't understand how there are heartless people who do things like...