Vancouver man thankful for strangers who helped save his dog

A Vancouver dog owner is extending his thanks to the numerous people who he says stepped in to help after his dog was hit by a car on Tuesday.

Ali Madiseh tells CityNews he was taking his dog, Meshki, home from the groomer when the canine jumped out of his car across a busy street after seeing another dog.

“There were so many kind people, they stopped the cars and tried to slow the traffic. Even the owner of the other dog he got excited about tried to hold the dog,” he said.

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Unfortunately, a vehicle ended up hitting Meshki on Granville Street near W 7th Street, pinning him underneath.

That’s when Madiseh says over a dozen people began surrounding the scene, with people stopping their cars in the middle of the street to come and help.

“You could see that he’s alive and he’s not that badly injured so I was sure if we picked up the car, I could gently move him,” he said.

“He was stressed, he was looking at me like ‘Where am I?'”

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Eventually, a group of people helped lift the vehicle off of the pooch, allowing Madiseh to corral him.

“I can still hear him screaming,” he said.

While this was happening, he says another bystander had looked up the nearest emergency animal hospital for Madiseh to take Meshki.

“I don’t know what I would have done without them because it would have been impossible for me to walk my dog back to the car,” he recalled.

‘He’s really our boy’

Madiseh says he and his wife had adopted Meshki as a rescue dog just months before they married in 2021.

The couple now has a young daughter, but he says the dog is just as much a part of the family.

“He’s really our boy,” he said. “He loves running around and using his energy, if there’s water he loves going in and cooling himself off.”

After getting some X-rays and other tests done, Madiseh says Meshki’s prognosis is good, mostly suffering some bleeding that will require some medication.

“We are very very lucky that he didn’t get internal damages that are life-threatening, or broken bones,” he said.

“The surgeon was telling me that there’s a good chance he’ll be an active boy in a couple of weeks.”

Madiseh was able to pick up his furry friend from the Surrey hospital on Thursday.

‘It wasn’t logic’ that led people to help, Madiseh says

Since the ordeal, Madiseh says he’s blown away by the kindness of the nearly 20 complete strangers who stopped and helped.

“It was people’s instinct that stopped them and brought them to that moment. It wasn’t logic,” he said.

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In addition to helping him lift the car, Madiseh says there were people of all ages and backgrounds who helped direct traffic and others who offered food, water and money.

“The number of people that showed up. Even if you were to say ‘Here is free tickets to a hockey (game)’ I don’t think that many people would show up,” he said.

“I’m thankful … not just because helped get my dog to care faster, but because they comforted me and my dog. I didn’t feel lonely because of them.”

Madiseh says he would like to meet everyone who helped him so he can thank them directly.