Determined Dog Hitchhikes His Way to Rescue!

Have you ever been tempted to pick up a hitchhiker? What about a four-legged one? Valia Orfanidou driving down a quiet lane in the Greek countryside, when she looked in her rearview mirror to see that she was being followed.

But this was not the beginning of a high-speed chase. She wasn’t being followed by another car, but by a cute, black and white puppy.

Greece is home to almost five million stray dogs, so Valia was not surprised to see her pursuer. In fact, her first thought was, “Oh no, another one.” She explained that people frequently dump unwanted dogs on the streets to fend for themselves.

Orfanidou fosters rescue dogs, which she writes about on her blog, The Orphan Pet. Seeing the little puppy abandoned like that, she couldn’t bring herself to keep driving, So she stopped the car and tried to coax him inside.

He was shy at first and hid under the car. But every time Valia stepped back, he would creep out from under the car and bark. Eventually, Valia was able to scoop up the pup and get him inside the car, where he settled in very quickly, happily wagging his tail. She brought him straight to a vet for a check up and was surprised to find that he was quite healthy, all things considered.

Valia has been looking after the pup, bringing him back to his full strength and helping him become more confident. She’s even given him a name, Bandit. Hopefully, it won’t be long before he is adopted by a loving family, so he’ll never have to be alone again.

Images & Feature Image Source: Valia Orfanidou / The Orphan Pet