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Watch as rush-hour drivers rescue runaway Chihuahua on Staten Island Expressway
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Date:2025-04-17 03:04:36
There’s nothing quite like a group of people coming together for a good cause, or in this case saving a small brown Chihuahua from oncoming traffic.
A couple of drivers spent a night last week trying to direct Bean, a lost Chihuahua off the Staten Island Expressway to safety.
The pup's Dec. 5 adventure was captured on a driver’s cam footage as they followed the small pup around for several minutes.
A woman was seen descending from her vehicle at the start of the video, trying to call the dog before darting off.
Bean spent several minutes weaving his way through traffic as two vehicles followed closely behind to make sure he wasn’t run over by a vehicle traveling on the expressway.
Watch the video here
The drivers stopped frequently, in an attempt to lead Bean towards the HOV lane. They drove along the HOV lane for a few minutes, trying to corral the runaway dog with their cars.
The lead vehicle eventually gets stuck in the HOV lane behind another car, giving Bean the opportunity to slip away. Multiple cars join the rescue attempt, with a couple vehicles in the HOV lane and one woman running after Bean on the expressway. The woman runs alongside Bean in the HOV lane for a few yards as a handful of other drivers remain in the accompanying lane and behind the pair to make sure the canine remains close by.
Eventually, the woman retrieves Bean with the help of another driver.
Good Samaritan who took the video initially spotted Bean after work
Katie Marie, who shot the video of Bean told The Staten Island Advance Sunday that she was making her way to a local pizzeria after work. Marie was trying to avoid additional traffic on the expressway when she noticed a group of drivers in pursuit of a small dog on the roadway.
“When I saw that dog, my instincts just kicked in and the only thing on my mind was to make sure that dog got to safety,” Marie shared with the paper.
Marie and another woman, seen in the video early on were trying to direct the dog to a nearby exit, to the right of the expressway. The dog continued on the directed path for a while before swiftly darting left towards all of the traffic on the HOV lane.
"We just kept trying to keep the dog in the HOV lane, trying to tire him out," Marie shared with the paper.
The multiple attempts to contain Bean continued for several minutes, as other cars joined in to help. The group was ultimately able to corral Bean in the HOV lane, where a woman was able to grab him.
Bean did display some aggressive behavior when they caught up with him, but they were able to coax him to safety.
"When I looked up, I saw over 20 cars that were all helping, which was extremely wholesome to see how many Staten Islanders came together as a community on a busy highway, to help one dog with an aimless destination. If it wasn't for everyone there, it would have been a very different outcome,” Marie shared with the outlet.
Bean returns home
It didn’t take long for Bean to be reunited with his owners after his walk on the wild side. Kaitlyn McGinley, a nurse at a local hospital said she joined the search on her way home from Brooklyn when she saw a woman chasing a dog on the expressway and multiple vehicles braking around her.
"I see this lady running and I'm like, why is there a woman running on the expressway right now? What the hell is going on? Then I saw the Chihuahua and I was like, oh, my God. My heart broke because I'm a dog mom, so I was like, whose animal is this? That's so sad,” McGinley told the paper.
She decided to pull over in front of the woman and the dog to help. McGinley was able to secure Bean in a bag after he ran under her car.
"Once I got him [the dog] in the car, he calmed down, he was shaking like a leaf," McGinley said. "He finally sat down and relaxed, and I don't know, it was just wild. Did not expect that to happen coming home."
McGinley quickly enlisted help from her local veterinarian’s office, who informed her that her best bet would be to contact Greater Staten Island Veterinary Services. Bean did not have a microchip, which made finding his owners a little more difficult.
They decided to a post a photo of the dog to a community Facebook group, getting tons of responses. Eventually, they were directed to the owner, who had posted a photo of her dog along with her contact information.
Within an hour of getting saved, Bean was back with his owner. The owner, shared with McGinley and her husband that Bean ran away after he was startled by a barking pit bull.
"I safely was able to deliver the dog back to her so that's all I am happy about," McGinley shared with the outlet.
veryGood! (6)
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