Dog Faithfully Waits by Side of the Road for 4 Years Before Owner Spots Him on Facebook

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From the archives: This story was last updated in October 2019.

Dogs are oftentimes more patient and loyal than the humans who own them, as an incredible story of a dog waiting four years in the same spot for its owner to return has shown. The dog, which rescuers had named Leo, had disappeared from his owner’s truck years before in Roi Et Province in Northeast Thailand.

After years of Leo waiting, being fed and taken care of by friendly passersby who took pity on him, his pictures appeared on social media and brought about a reunion between the faithful canine and his original owners.

When the happy moment came, the dog was content to see its original owners but seemed to have gotten used to its new home and caretaker. The original owner agreed to let the rescuer keep the dog, promising to visit from time to time and help out with veterinary care.

The story started back in 2015 when Leo’s original owners were driving from their home to the nearby city of Khon Kaen. When they stopped for gas, they found that the pup, which they called Bon Bon at the time, was nowhere to be found. They retraced their route in an effort to find him and even returned a week later to check the same section of the road, but they couldn’t find him.

The family gave up on their search for Bon Bon, but what they didn’t know was that the dog hadn’t given up on them. Day in and day out, he sat in the same spot by the side of the road, patiently waiting for them to return to pick him up. Bon Bon soon became a local fixture for drivers in the area who decided to do something to help him.

Local woman Saowalak Pinnuchawet noticed Bon Bon in 2016 and started coming to feed him regularly. “I rode a motorcycle past this road and saw him everyday for a week, so I asked the people about his owner and the locals told me that he was a stray dog,” she said, per the Mirror. She also noticed that the dog was emaciated and suffering from some kind of skin condition.

Saowalak started feeding the dog and befriended it. She was shocked to see him in such condition and took him to a vet, where he received treatment for a canine form of leprosy. The rescuer renamed him Leo and brought him home, where he stayed for three to four days according to Dog Thailand. But eventually, Leo vanished. Saowalak was worried that he had been stolen, but when she went back to the road, “I found him at this spot again so I let him stay here and have been coming to feed him everyday,” she explained, per the Mirror.

Realizing that she wasn’t going to be able to persuade him to abandon his post, Saowalak continued bringing him food every day and had family members sub in on the days when she couldn’t make it. Things might have continued like this indefinitely if it weren’t for a passing motorcyclist, Anuchit Uncharoen, who also noticed the unusual dog’s roadside vigil.

The man took a video along with some photos of the seemingly indefatigable pooch waiting patiently by the road. He eventually met the dog’s local guardian angel when she came by to feed him. Anuchi wrote a Facebook post along with the photos, which were shared on Sept. 5, 2019. He explained the dog’s situation and asked for help in identifying his owners. He praised the kind actions of Saowalak and gave the exact location of the dog’s spot.

Incredibly enough, the dog’s original owner, a woman named Noi Sittisarn, saw the shared post, and just four days after it went viral, she returned to be reunited with the dog she had thought was long gone. When Noi arrived on Sept. 9, the dog was ecstatic to see her, wagging his tail enthusiastically. But when the time came to hop in the car with her, he appeared to be hesitant.

Noi promised to return the next day to see if Leo would be ready to go back to his original home, but in the interim, an emotional Saowalak called to ask if she should continue to care for the dog she had been looking after for three years. According to the Mirror, Noi was happy to honor her intention. “I have no intention to refuse her request. Due to her good care of the dog I believe she and the dog will be happy together and I would like her to keep the dog in her house.'’

Leo’s first owner promised to help pay for vet visits and also come back to visit regularly. Hopefully, Leo will finally be able to settle in to a forever home, comforted by his rescuer and his original owner.