On a rainy day in Selma, California, a young teenager named Ubaldo Apolinar heard scratching at his front door. Investigating, he discovered a small puppy seeking shelter from the rain on his porch. Driven by compassion, he attempted to bring the puppy inside, but his parents wouldn’t permit it. Undeterred, Ubaldo took it upon himself to care for the shivering puppy.
Shivering In The Rain
Seeing the puppy shivering in the rain, Ubaldo quickly fetched some dog food he had for his own pet to offer her some comfort.
“At first, she backed away a little bit, but I kept getting closer to her, and once I pet her, she basically trusted me,” Ubaldo shared with The Dodo. Having no idea where the little dog came from, Ubaldo, a dog owner himself, felt a strong urge to assist her.
Noticing her pink collar, he presumed she was lost and that her owners were searching for her. He joined various community groups on Facebook to post about the lost puppy, hoping someone would recognize her. During this time, he ensured the puppy was well-fed and taken care of. Although he asked his parents to let the puppy stay, they explained they could only have one pet, named Rocky.
“My sister and I hung out with her out on the porch in the afternoon, and then we played with her […] I was worried about her being outside in the cold at night, so I made a little house for her out of an old cardboard box. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her at night, so I just snuck her in while my parents were asleep,” Ubaldo recounted.
He quickly took the puppy to the bathroom to play with her quietly, even crafting a makeshift sweater from an old sock. “I was getting attached to her. I wish I could have kept her, but I knew the right thing to do was to take her back to her owners,” Ubaldo admitted.
Finding Her Way Home
Eventually, Ubaldo’s parents discovered him keeping the puppy, but the situation resolved happily the next day when he received a message from a potential owner. “I got a potential owner request and after light social media stalking and passing by her house, her story checked out,” he explained. The potential owner lived nearby in Selma, CA, making it convenient for them to arrange a meeting to return the puppy.
Before returning her, Ubaldo played with the puppy one last time in the yard with her favorite tennis ball, cherishing the joyful moments they’d shared. As he returned her home, he learned the dog’s name was Bubba. After all his efforts, Bubba was finally where she belonged, and thankfully, she lived close enough for Ubaldo to visit her anytime!
Watch Bubba’s journey from being lost to finding her way home:
