Late last month, Vesna Vukojevic was walking the streets of Trstenik, Serbia, when a heart-wrenching sight caught her eye.
There, on the sidewalk in front of a bakery, was a lonely stray dog. Clearly starved for love, the poor pup had found a bittersweet alternative to a caring human touch, something he’d been living without.
The dog was sidled up next to a mechanical statue, making its moving arm pet him — doing his best to imagine that it was true affection:
After Vesna posted the video online, it broke people’s hearts around the world.
“That just killed part of me,” one user wrote.
“Poor dog just wants to be loved,” added another.
Animal lover Nina Savić was among those moved by the dog’s poignant actions. With the help of friends, she rescued the dog from the streets of Trstenik and brought him to her home more than 200 miles away.
Nina Savić
Hogar the Horrible, as the dog is playfully now known, was slow at first to accept that he had access to real snuggles.
But he’s slowly begun to blossom.
Savić had taken a chance on Hogar, and it’s more than paid off.
Now he knows what true love feels like.
Nina Savić
“He is wonderful, loves to be cuddled,” fellow animal rescuer Maja Pinter told The Dodo. “He just puts his head in the hands of everyone he meets.”
Nina Savić
Savić, who lives in Belgrade, is hoping to find Hogar a new family to call his own, but admits that she would also be happy to keep him forever.
“Everyone is in love with him,” Pinter said. “He knows how to win everyone’s heart.”
Nina Sević
From his tragic beginnings, unloved on the streets of Trstenik, to the cozy home he now shares with Savić, one thing is clear — Hogar will never again be without a loving human touch.