HOUSTON — A man said he caught someone on camera abandoning a dog at a gas station in southeast Houston on Friday.
Jason Hutchinson recorded a video where you can see a dog tied to a pole with a leash. He posted it to social media and the video has since gone viral with more than 11 million views on TikTok.
"She ties this leash on the handicap pole, and I'm looking," Hutchinson said as he described what he saw. "I'm thinking maybe she's going to stay and make a call or something. She ends up getting in the car and then backs up and ends up leaving."
Hutchinson said he couldn't believe what he saw.
"It just shows me some people really just don't care and the dog is well-kept taken care of," he said. "So it really goes to show that some people are just cold."
After seeing him tied to the pole, Hutchinson said he couldn't leave the dog behind. So, he took the dog with him and named it Storm.
Hutchinson's friend Carlos Valdez took Storm in for now.
“It's really like a perfect dog," Valdez said. "I don't see what's wrong with him besides he has tons and tons of energy."
According to the Houston SPCA, dogs and other animals being left behind is common.
"Animals are being left behind in horrible conditions. No food, no water, in apartments, in hotels and motels, in parks. They're being dumped along the street,” Julie Kuenstle with Houston SPCA said.
Kuenstle said not only is it a terrible thing to abandon animals, but it's also against the law in Texas.
“In the state of Texas, animals are your property. So if you are dumping animals, you are breaking the law," Kuenstle said.
The Houston SPCA has 10 animal cruelty investigators who take on cases often. Kuenstle said they encourage people to report animal cruelty if they see it.
If you have an animal that you can no longer take care of, Kuenstle said it's your responsibility to find them a home.
Hutchinson took on the responsibility himself.
"Seeing that happen in front of me, I feel like God put it in my heart. I had to do something about it," he said.
Valdez will care for Storm until he and Hutchinson find it a forever home.
"There are families that want a dog like this,” Valdez said.