Woman rescues stray puppy while traveling in a beautiful act of kindness: 'Soulmates'

Even if one doesn't have the financial capacity to help others, a simple act of kindness and empathy can change many lives. Especially when it comes to stray animals, many pet lovers go out of their way to rescue them and the internet is full of such wholesome stories. Recently, one such story touched millions of hearts on Instagram. Valerie, a solo traveler who goes by @journeyious on social media shared about her time in Sri Lanka where she spent most of her time saving the life of a stray puppy. The duo bonded so well that he ended up being her travel companion throughout her Sri Lanka trip.

It all started when Valerie found an injured and sick stray puppy on the street who didn't have a mother. "He roamed around the pier all day, begging for food. Sometimes the locals gave him something to eat, but he clearly needed medical help," she mentioned in the video's caption. The traveler cleaned up the puppy and when the locals jokingly asked her to take him with her, she instantly did. He was named Tucker, the tuk-tuk puppy because Valerie was riding an autorickshaw, locally known as tuk-tuk when she first met the pooch. "My first priority was to make sure he became healthy again. We visited vets countless times and had both good and bad experiences," she said.  

Soon, Tucker became Valerie's companion in roaming around Sri Lanka. He accompanied her in the tuk-tuk and the duo visited many new places together. They met many kind people during their trip, camped together and had the best times. However, Tucker's health was deteriorating and they also simultaneously visited many vets. Eventually, one particular vet was able to diagnose Tucker's condition accurately and treated him. The puppy soon became fit as a fiddle and the only problem left to address was Valerie's inability to leave him. As a solo traveler, she had further travel plans but her love for her "soulmate," Tucker left her in a dilemma as to what she should do with him.

The video garnered over 12 million views and people couldn't get enough of the travel duo's cuteness. "Can’t love this enough. It may seem like just one puppy, but to that puppy, it was his whole world at stake," said @branson_rhoads. "You have a heart made out of gold. I always watched the stories with Tucker and felt all the emotions with you. It’s not easy and obvious all the things you did for him. It tells a lot about yourself," remarked @laura_calatoreste. "You are an absolute angel - it’s great to see there are good people in the world. You guys are amazing together," added @mksharkey.

Since many were curious if Tucker accompanied Valerie while leaving Sri Lanka, the traveler posted a part-2 video. Though she initially planned to find Tucker a good home after his health improved, Valerie also considered other options that had their drawbacks. Taking him to Germany where her friends and family lived was one option but she had to wait for four months after Tucker's rabies vaccine. Continuing to travel with him to other countries might be hard on the little pooch as he was just recovering.

Finally, with a heavy heart, Valerie left Tucker in Sri Lanka when she found a loving home. "The family running the hostel where we stayed before offered to adopt Tucker. I knew they would take good care of him," she said in the caption. "Seeing the love he receives now, taking him away from the family wouldn’t be right. Saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing ever but he has found his forever home and I need to visit him again," she added.

You can follow Valerie (@journeyious) on Instagram for travel content.