Being a stray dog is hard, but can you imagine being homeless, hungry, and cold during freezing winter nights? This is the life many dogs live, fortunately for one stray Chicago dog, his life was saved when Ed Kostro rescued the lonely pet during a cold winter night.
Kostro has rescued many pets before, and back in Dec. 2013, he received a phone call about a lonely, white dog, who had been trotting aimlessly for days around a Chicago city park.
The rescuer was told the dog was near a busy street, and the caller was afraid the poor dog would be killed.
Kostro headed out to find the pet. He drove for what seemed hours and the dog was nowhere to be found. Right before he was ready to end the dog search, the hero rescuer spotted the canine.
“[He was] wandering down the street, his head hung low, his tail between his legs,” wrote Kostro on The Harmony Fund.
Afraid the skittish dog would take off running if he was approached on foot, Kostro decided to follow the stray in his car. The rescued hoped the dog would enter an area where a rescue would be possible.
An hour later, the dog turned into an alley and entered a fenced backyard.
“I jumped out of my vehicle and I followed him into the yard, hoping and praying that the back gate of this house’s yard was secured,” said Kostro. “Thankfully, it was.”
The stray had nowhere to escape. He put a fight but in the end, the Kostro secured the dog with a leash and led the cold and hungry pet to his car.
“Once inside my truck, it took another hour for him to stop trembling from fear and the frigid weather,” said Kostro. “He eventually allowed me to stroke his head and neck.”
The Chicago stray was taken to an animal hospital. He had no collar, no tags, and when scanned, no microchip was found. The dog remained at the vet clinic for a few days, and Kostro hoped the dog’s family would come forward and claim him. This never happened, but a compassionate woman stepped up to foster the stray.
“[She] was willing to foster and even adopt him if his family is not located,” said Kostro.
The stray is now safe in a foster home. If his family never claims him, he knows he has found love and a forever home in his foster family.
