Stray dogs can go through a lot in their relatively short lives. They go through awful, unimaginable things that no creature should ever have to endure. Sometimes, a stray can be just fine, if not a little hungry and wary of people. Other times, though, just the look of them is enough to say what they’ve experienced, and it can be enough to make you cry.

Thankfully, there are some extra special people out there who don’t have it in them to just ignore these stray animals. Rico Soegiarto is one of them.

Rico lives in Denpasar, Bali and as he was walking home on his way back from work, he saw a stray dog and felt his heart break. He found the dog cowered in the street so emaciated it was clear the poor thing had been starving for quite some time.

Being the animal lover that he is, Rico knew he had to help rescue the stray from what looked to be certain death.

The poor pooch was so scrawny that Rico could see her ribs and bones jutting out in every direction. She was badly flea-ridden and had a terrible case of mange and other skin irritations. She was so run down, in fact, that Rico couldn’t even discern what breed the dog was.

Tenderly, Rico lifted the stray in his arms and brought her home. He was determined to help her get her health back.

According to esteemed dog whisperer, Cesar Millan, there are over 600 million stray animals wandering the streets throughout the world at any given time. He feels that people need to be more sensitive to the fact that these are living beings and not just unwanted objects.

“I think many people look at stray animals and see them as a nuisance. But these are actual living feeling beings that lead incredibly brutal and painful lives. And it’s largely because of things that we humans have done,” he writes on his blog.

Thankfully for the sweet pup, this wasn’t Rico’s first merry-go-round when it came to nursing a stray back to health.

In fact, the animal lover is the proud human to four other dogs that he rescued as strays. That’s how Rico knew that there was still fight left in this sweet girl. He could see the life in her eyes.

The stray had some of the most piercing blue eyes Rico had ever seen.

He figured there was a good chance the dog was Husky-mix, but couldn’t be certain since she was so emaciated. On their walk home, seeing how determined she was to survive, Rico gave her the most fitting name he could think of; Hope.

The first thing Rico did when he got home with Hope was give her a special bath.

He submerged her in medicated bathwater and gently washed her sore skin. Though the medication on her open sores probably hurt, she only reacted by giving Rico’s hand a few sweet licks. She was letting him know that she knew she was in good hands with him.

Slowly, Rico began giving Hope small amounts of high-quality dog food to help her weight gain. Hope seemed to know that she was part of Rico’s family, and got along with her fur siblings almost instantly. Though it took her a while to be able to move freely without pain, over time she built up more muscle.

Eventually, Hope began to look like a dog again. It turned out that Rico’s instincts were 100% accurate; Hope was definitely a Husky. Now, she had the tell-tale thick, beautiful coat and the pretty blue eyes to match.

It took 10 months of Rico’s love and constant care to help Hope get her life back on track, and it was totally worth it.

Now, Hope gets to live life as a healthy, happy pup who is part of a very big and loving family.

She could have easily been passed up if it hadn’t of been Rico who saw her. We believe that this sweet Husky’s story is proof positive that there are angels among us. It’s just that some of them don’t have wings.

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H/T: Shareably