A homeless dog was found protecting his injured canine friend by the roadside. The loyal dog is now up for adoption. Photo credit: S.Elky

A homeless dog was found guarding his canine friend who had been hit by a car near Tucker, Georgia. Despite extremely heavy traffic, the Mastiff / Pit bull mix refused to leave his dying friend's side.

The dog, now named Brando, guarded his fallen friend as cars drove by, until a concerned DeKalb County employee spotted the dogs and called for help.

She contacted Jessica Rock, Deputy Chief of the Special Victim's Unit of the DeKalb County Solicitor's Office, who in turn called Sgt. Tim Medlin of the DeKalb Police Department, who works with DeKalb Animal Services. Medlin and an employee from the shelter, arrived at the roadside and found Brando protecting the body of the other dog.

"He was obviously guarding his deceased friend," Medlin told the Tucker Patch. "He would get upset when we got too near. He would run away from us but then run right back to the body. He didn't want to leave his friend. You could tell there was a bond between them."

They eventually managed to corral Brando and bring him back to safety at the shelter. "Once we got him back here," Medlin said, "he was great." Brando's aggression and agitation abated right away.

Once Rock heard the dog was safe, she called around to find a rescue willing to take the brave dog in. Rebecca Guinn, executive director at LifeLine Animal Project stepped forward and took Brando to their no-kill shelter.

Despite being 80 pounds of muscle, staff have found Brando to be "sweet, goofy and lovable". He's leash-trained and house-trained and will do well in a home with no children. The rescue wants help in finding the dog "with a big ol' head and a big ol' heart" a permanent home.

If you are interested in adopting Brando, or would like to find out more about him, contact LifeLine Animal Project.

Via the Patch

• Pit Bull
• loyal
• Tucker
• Georgia
• LifeLine Animal Project