Andres Fabricio Argandoña Tapia was driving a train through Llay Llay, in the Valparaíso Region of Chile, when he noticed a dark spot on the tracks ahead. When the object blocking his path didn’t move, the eagle-eyed conductor slammed on the brakes.
A few feet ahead of the train car sat a little black and brown dog. Tapia exited the train, filming with his phone as he approached the animal.
At the sight of the conductor, the little dog tugged at the few feet of chain that tethered him to the tracks, barking and wagging his tail excitedly. Had Tapia not stopped the train, the pup would’ve been unable to escape — a thought that sickened the conductor.
"How can there be such bad people who have tied little dogs to the road?” Tapia said in the video. “Hopefully, one day, the human race will change."
Tapia posted the video of the rescue to his Facebook account on Monday, where it has since been viewed over 300,000 times. While the video ends shortly after the discovery of the dog, Tapia states that he unchained the dog and set him free.
“At the end, the puppy let go and went happy,” Tapia writes in a Facebook comment.
You can watch the heartbreaking rescue here:
In response to the viral video, the mayor of Llay Llay, Edgardo Gonzalez, stated that he is launching a criminal investigation to bring whoever abandoned the dog to justice.
"We are shocked by the cruelty seen in our society, and strongly condemn this act against such a defenseless animal,” Gonzalez said, according to local media outlet La Republica. “We appreciate the attitude that the driver had, who saved the life of this pet.”
"As a municipality, we will take the corresponding actions [to bring] a lawsuit against those responsible and we will also contact the engineer to offer all our help to provide this little puppy with veterinary medical care, microchips, deworming and sterilization,” he added.
If the puppy is found, the mayor noted that they will do their best to provide the little dog with a loving adoptive home.
The response to the video has been overwhelming, with thousands of commenters thanking the kind conductor for stopping to save the helpless dog’s life.
Tapia responded on Facebook: “You know that we railwaymen are of good heart.”
