Luiz, a homeless man in Cianorte, Brazil suddenly had a stroke and was taken to Santa Casa Hospital. His six loyal dogs chased after the ambulance and waited outside the hospital for 24 hours after their owner was taken inside.
The dogs were filmed arriving at the building panting after chasing the ambulance carrying their owner. They refused to leave the entrance to Accident and Emergency at Santa Casa Hospital. The hospital staff was astounded to see that scene.
Immediately, volunteers from Amigos de Patas Cianorte, an animal welfare organization, were called to the scene to take care of dogs. The volunteers gave them food and water so they continued to wait for their owner.
In Cianorte, where he has lived for more than 20 years, Luiz and his dogs are well-known. Although Luiz’s family has tried many times to find him a suitable home, he always refused because he wanted to live on the street with his close dog family.
“He lives with his pals and treats them very well, he shares everything with them. That night he had a stroke … his friends of paws accompanied him and they stayed [crying] from the outside. There they remain in vigil,” Amigos de Patas Cianorte shared in a Facebook post.
According to Amigos de Patas Cianorte, the next morning, Luiz was stable enough to be discharged from the hospital. Sadly, the much anticipated reunion with his pets had to be postponed when Luiz was let out by a different exit.
Simone Ziliane, a volunteer with Amigos de Patas Cianorte said, “The dogs were desperate. On Thursday morning, when Luiz was discharged and left with his brother through another door, the dogs remained at the hospital entrance. One of the volunteers from the NGO had to fetch Luiz at his brother’s house and take him to where the dogs were for them to leave the front.”
In the end, the most expected reunion has come. Luiz and his dogs were finally reunited, it was happiness all around.
