The moment a neglected puppy was rescued after being dumped at a gas station has gone viral on TikTok.
What makes the video even more heartwarming is the dog’s reaction to Karina Ulianov (@karinusshh) and her partner—he literally jumps for joy, leaving them with no choice but to take him home.
In the caption, she wrote: “I couldn’t bear to leave him there, so we came back together,” and his story has since racked up 1.9 million views.
Other clips show the energetic dog having a bath and bouncing around on the couch. Ulianov has since responded to a commenter who asked, “Are [you] sure he was abandoned?”
Initially, she assumed the dog belonged to someone, but after an hour of waiting, she asked around, and the gas station owner revealed the dog had been tied up and left behind.
Ulianov states she couldn’t leave him but also cannot keep him as she already has two dogs and a parrot. Now, she is on a mission to find him a loving home.
“How can someone abandon such a pure creature? We don’t deserve dogs,” asked one user.
“I have nothing nice to say about people who abandon or hurt these precious angels. God bless you for taking him in. There should be more people like you in the world,” said another comment.
A third person wrote: “He’s so cute. Whoever left him is heartless.”
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Scenarios like this are far from unique. In fact, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reports that there are an estimated 70 million cats and dogs struggling to survive in the United States.
These situations arise from the failure to spay and neuter pets, leading to more animals being brought into a world already overwhelmed with more dogs and cats than there are loving homes. Some animals are abandoned, while many are the offspring of those left behind by guardians who moved away, could no longer care for them, or simply didn’t want them anymore.
Homeless dogs and cats living on the streets face numerous dangers. They risk being hit by cars, attacked by other animals or cruel individuals, and contracting or spreading contagious diseases. Without treatment, simple infections can become life-threatening, while internal and external parasites slowly destroy their health.
According to the ASPCA, approximately 6.3 million companion animals enter community animal shelters across the nation each year. However, not all dogs find happy endings—about 65 percent are adopted, while around 13 percent are euthanized.
Newsweek reached out to @karinusshh for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.
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