Little Kids Rescued This Puppy All by Themselves

It’s likely you’ve never seen puppy love like this before — and these tender images, straight from Tanzania, East Africa, are sure to melt your heart (and good old-fashioned heart melts never go out of style).

Five young children managed to rescue a homeless puppy by themselves last week, according to reporting from the Animal Channel. 

As Goodluck, Casbert, Caren, Princes and Kenny walked along a busy road in the city of Arusha on their way home from school, they noticed a scared and lonely puppy.

Fearing for its safety, they scooped him up and took him home.

They named him Jack — and the pooch began wagging his tail once again, thanks to his new friends.

Sadly, their parents wouldn’t let Jack stay.

Clever and resourceful, the kids contacted 21-year-old Ismael Mungaya — a dog rescuer who runs a small animal shelter in the area, which he opened just two years ago.

His first dog was a stray named Tina, who had recently given birth to four pups.

“I felt very sad for her,” Ismael Mungaya told The Dodo. “I took them [Tina and her puppies] home where I built a small box to cover them from the rain, and I continued to feed them.”

He brought the dogs home and fed them, but he still didn’t know the first thing about caring for them beyond that, so he turned to social media for assistance.

He asked for tips on Facebook and his post was widely shared, even among trained dog rescuers, who not only answered the call for help but worked with Ismael to locate a vet who could vaccinate the litter.

In time, the young man started rescuing more and more pups, and also began putting the puppies up for adoption. In his first year, he saved as many as 30 dogs.

And though he usually has room for only six dogs at a time, he made an exception for little Jack after seeing how much the children loved him.

“These children are my superheroes,” he said, as The Dodo reported.

Elizabeth Economou is a former CNBC staff writer and adjunct professor. Follow her on Twitter.

(photo credit, homepage and article: Ismael Animal Rescue Tanzania, Facebook)