A dog named Hannibal has melted hearts all over the internet after his reaction to finding two stray puppies wandering alone in the woods went viral on social media.
In the video, shared on TikTok on Monday by the dog's owner, under the username Lovethewildthings, the American pit bull terrier can be seen fetching the ball she threw for him on their daily walk in the woods, coming back with two lost puppies he found on the way.
Hannibal can be seen playfully interacting with the puppies, almost asking his owner if he can keep them, as she walks all over the place trying to find their potential owner.
In the caption, she explained: "Found puppies in the woods? They seem clean and healthy, looking for their owner. I'm surprised they weren't eaten up by the coyotes. Wonder what their story is."
According to the Blue Cross, an animal charity, the first thing to do when you find a stray dog is to check if it's wearing a name tag with the owner's details on it, and contact the owner to return the animal if so.
If not, you should instead contact your local authority dog warden via your local council, as they are legally responsible for stray dogs, so they can come to collect the animal and leave them in a kennel to wait for the potential owners to claim them.
"Although it might be tempting to keep the dog, you're legally required to let the local authority know about any stray dogs and, if you don't, you could be accused of theft," says the Blue Cross, adding that if nobody claims the dog and you want to keep it, the local authority may be able to arrange for you to rehome them.
In another video, updating her followers on the puppies, the woman, located in northeastern Pennsylvania, explained that even if she wanted to she wouldn't be able to keep the puppies as she already has four pet dogs.
The video has attracted animal lovers form all over the platform, and has so far received over 1.4 million views and 170,000 likes in less than a day.
One user, kimalvey, commented: "Your dog is so unbothered by them." And Arcturus said: "I love how your dog was like 'yea I know these guys they're chill."
Emo chick wrote: "First off. Your dog is trained SO well and a GREAT EXAMPLE of a pit. 2). The puppies chose you." And wendy klein added: "your dog just adopted some nephews."
Another user, lil, commented: "Your dog is a great dog. perfectly neutral with the babies." And ThatGirlChef wrote: "The puppies said 'heard you was looking for me? Here I go'!" Jimkitt8383 added: "I'd have two new dogs." And Danielle Gonzalez said: "Your dog is so gentle and precious!"
Newsweek reached out to Lovethewildthings for comment. We couldn't verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Correction, 1/12/23, 3:35 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the dog breed.
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