A determined animal lover has shared his days long attempts to rescue a stray dog from freezing cold temperatures, returning time and time again and walking miles to try and coax her into his truck.
When Will Logan, 39, from Fort Worth, Texas, first came across the pooch while on a construction job a few hours away on January 11 while the dog was rummaging around a series of dumpsters at the site.
Initially, Will assumed the dog was from one of the nearby houses – but a colleague soon informed him that they had been hanging around the area for weeks, eating out of the dumpsters.
Will said a large freeze was set to hit the area on January 13, causing the windchill to drop to around –11 Fahrenheit (-24C) and potentially last for four days.
At that point, Will decided he wanted to help the lonely dog, so after work, he sat in his truck and waited for it to appear.
That first day, Will said, he walked around three miles after the dog, who was very skittish and would notice him, approach but then stay at least 100 yards away.
Over the days that followed, Will returned repeatedly, bringing food, braving freezing cold temperatures, and hoping to coax the dog, whom he had named Dusty, closer and closer to his truck.
Coinciding with this, Will had been telling his friends about his efforts, taking videos that he then realized were too large to send via text.
He then set up a Reddit channel – purely to add the videos to show his friends – but soon, his work started to receive a wider audience, with Redditors keen to follow Will and Dusty’s journey.
RELATED: Protective Dog Has Internet in Stitches When He Refuses to Give Up Bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
Eventually, after miles of walking and days of trying for hours at a time, Will was able to make a breakthrough: he encouraged Dusty to get close enough to his truck before coaxing her inside through a different door.
By that point, it was around the fourth day and 6pm in the evening, Will said, and he was facing a two-and-a-half-hour drive home, having finished his construction assignment for that week.
He had also not told his wife about Dusty, but knowing she was a huge animal lover, he arrived home, and she immediately welcomed the skittish dog into their home.
Over the next few weeks, Dusty underwent numerous vet visits, where it was discovered that her living situation had resulted in her contracting pneumonia and heartworm.
Some days were tough, but Will and his wife are now looking into a treatment plan.
Will also discovered that Dusty did, in fact, have a tag, but he believed her previous owners lived 80 miles away, and the area where she was found is said to be a popular location for leaving unwanted animals.
By continuing to share Dusty’s story, Will hopes to raise awareness and money for rescue dogs.
Will said: “I hope that Dusty’s story will inspire prospective pet owners to consider opening their home to a rescue animal.
“It could be a dog, cat, reptile, bird, or whatever.
“I want people to know that giving an animal who has never had a break in their whole life a few good years when they need it the most is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.
“Before Dusty, I didn’t spend much time on social media.
“Now that I am, I see that rescue animals don’t seem to get the same level of attention exotic, expensive, glamorous designer breeds do.
“There’s nothing wrong with having any of those animals, but I just want people to realize there are immoral backyard breeders and puppy mills that want to capitalize on that while there are thousands of good animals in need of rescuing that could use their help right now.”