It only took three words to change the trajectory of dog rescuer Suzette Hall’s day recently.
As soon as she heard an excited voice scream, “We got him,” through the phone, the founder of Logan’s Legacy dog rescue raced to I-710 in Los Angeles.
Hall and her rescue partners had spent the last few weeks attempting, with no such luck, to trap a scared dog stranded alongside the highway. Neighbors confirmed that he’d been there for months, but no one could get close enough to rescue him.
“He would cry and bark for people to notice him,” Hall told The Dodo.
Residents noticed the pup when he first showed up in May and started leaving food out for him. After helping himself to some kibble, the sad boy would wander back to the shoulder of the highway and fall asleep alone.
Until one day, someone offered him his very first toy.
“Someone had tossed a squeaky pig out to him, and he literally made it his best friend,” Hall said.
The dog, whom Hall later named Bruce, finally had someone to accompany him outside.
Hall was eventually called to help rescue Bruce a few weeks later. The rescuer heard about Bruce’s beloved toy pig, but watching him interact with his squeaky friend still melted her heart.
“There were so many times when he thought we weren’t looking, and he would just be playing with his pig,” Hall said. “He’d throw it up in the air and catch it, then run around with it.”
Even at night, Bruce made sure the pig never left his sight.
“He would take it everywhere he went, even when he would sleep on the side of the highway,” Hall said. “If he did not have his pig, I don’t know how he would’ve survived out there.”
After weeks of failed attempts, a neighbor finally trapped Bruce in their yard. When they called Hall to share the good news, the rescuer jumped in her van and sped to the highway.
Moments later, Hall was on her way to Camino Pet Hospital with Bruce in tow. But someone special was missing.
“I forgot the pig,” Hall said. “So we had someone bring his pig to him at the vet.”
Genavie Ochoa, a woman who’d befriended Bruce on the street and aided Hall with the rescue, arrived later that day with the toy in hand.
Bruce was excited to see his human friend, but his face lit up as soon as he realized what she was carrying.
“He literally knew it was his pig,” Hall said. “It was the first time we saw him smile.”
Not long after his rescue, Bruce was matched with a loving foster family. He happily trotted into his temporary home carrying his toy pig, who is still his absolute best friend.
“The pig will be next to Bruce’s bed at night, and when his foster mom gets up in the morning, she always finds the pig in bed with him,” Hall said.
As of now, Bruce and his squeaky friend are still on the hunt for a forever kind of love.
Hall hopes to find the perfect family for Bruce soon, under one special condition: “We really need to find him a forever home — and his pig has to go with him!”