Not only Andrea Athie, the young woman from Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, but also countless others were stunned when they learned the truth.
About a year ago, while walking along a road, Andrea spotted what she believed was an exhausted stray dog. As she approached, she realized the animal had a broken hind leg and, without hesitation, decided to help.
She gently picked it up and placed it in her car, rushing it to the nearest veterinarian.
However, upon arrival, the vet delivered shocking news: the animal wasn’t a stray dog as she had thought — it was actually a coyote.
Andrea had no idea the creature she rescued was anything other than a regular injured dog.
Her brother, Alejandro, later posted photos of Andrea with the rescued coyote — which they named Pancho — on Twitter, along with the caption:
“Today my sister picked up a coyote, thinking it was a dog hit by a motorbike, and took it to the vet.”
The post quickly gained traction, and netizens flooded it with comments like:
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“It really does look like a domestic dog. I’d have done the same!”
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“Good thing it didn’t attack her.”
Andrea later shared that Pancho was doing well, and she hoped that after five days of treatment, his broken leg would heal properly.
This surprising and heartwarming encounter reminds us how powerful compassion can be — even when we don’t fully understand who (or what) we’re helping.