Dog Rescued After Living on Freeway Median for 5 Weeks

Against all odds, the story of a dog stuck on the median of a California freeway for weeks got a happy ending last weekend. BuzzFeed reports someone called the Galt Police Department April 10 after seeing a German shepherd fall off the back of a pickup truck on Highway 99 south of Sacramento. In the coming weeks, the police department received dozens of calls about the dog, but officers were never able to find her, according to KCRA. Finally after yet another call Saturday morning, police and the California Highway Patrol shut the highway down and rescued the frightened dog, whom they dubbed Freeway Frida. "Those big brown eyes were looking up at us like ‘Please help me,'" officer Sylvia Coelho tells Fox 40.

Freeway Frida was drastically underweight and had a broken leg when she was brought to a local animal hospital. The veterinarian was surprised the dog managed to survive for five weeks while trapped on a freeway median without an obvious source of food or water. Fortunately, Freeway Frida appears to be recovering from her ordeal. She's lacking a microchip and tags, so police are hoping her owner comes forward. In the meantime, the lucky dog has made an impression on her rescuers. “I wish I could keep her,” Coelho tells KCRA. “With my line of work, I’m never home, so she needs a good, loving home that will help her heal.” (More uplifting news stories.)