“This baby knew that we were there to save him.”
Lauren Wong and her girlfriend had gone to visit what used to be her home in Altadena, California, which was destroyed in the recent wildfires. While mourning the loss of the home, they discovered someone in need of help.
“My girlfriend was walking up what used to be her driveway, in hysterics, and she’s the one who found Canelo,” Wong said in a video for The Dodo. “She pulled herself together and said, ‘We need to save him.’”
Canelo, curled up in the remains of the yard, looked defeated. He wasn’t moving, and the women feared he might have injuries that were not immediately visible.
“I went down the driveway and found a truck full of guys. I told them, ‘There’s this dog that needs help,’ and without hesitation, they jumped out of the truck and came right over,” Lauren recalled.
The group provided Canelo with food and water and covered him with a blanket, trying to comfort him while figuring out what to do next.
“We were all afraid to pick him up,” Lauren said. “We didn’t know how bad his injuries were. We could see his paws were burned, and the front of his mouth was injured.”
As they were tending to the dog, a news crew arrived and interviewed the group about the rescue. All the while, Canelo sat quietly, trusting the strangers who were there to help him.
“This baby knew we were there to save him,” Lauren said.
With help from the crew, they were finally able to lift Canelo into the truck and drive him to Pasadena Humane Society. It wasn’t long before his owner, who had been desperately trying to evacuate, came looking for him. During the chaos of evacuation, Canelo had become frightened by flying embers, jumped out of the truck, and ran off. The thick smoke had made it impossible for his owner to find him.
“He had him in the back of his pickup, but when all those embers were flying, Canelo got scared, jumped out, and ran,” Lauren explained. “With all the smoke, he couldn’t find him.”
Canelo is still recovering from his injuries at Pasadena Humane Society and will be reunited with his family once he’s healed. Both Canelo and his owner are deeply grateful to the kind-hearted people who found him, despite dealing with their own losses. They still took the time to save Canelo’s life.