A homeless dog trapped inside a dumpster is now safe, thanks to a trash truck driver and a friendly neighbor in Petersburg, Va.

Waste Management’s Jermaine Jackson was about to empty the bin into his truck when he glanced over and saw the lonely pup.

“As I pull up to the can and went to dump it, a dog popped out,” he told WTVR. “It’s kind of sad because she’s sitting there with a sad face like, ‘Get me out of here.’ If I didn’t see her, she’d be in the back of the truck right now, or she could have gotten crushed.”

Jackson freed the friendly dog and built a makeshift shelter to shield her from the rain while he called animal control. But they weren’t open yet, so a nearby resident, Frances Verschuure, allowed the pup to wait on her porch.

“We got some blankets,” she said. “We got some food. We got some water and called animal control. So, in the meantime, we just sat out here with her. She was sweet as she could be.”

Animal control determined that the dog had recently given birth. Jackson said he doesn’t believe she climbed into the dumpster on her own.

“I think somebody threw her in there because where the dock is at, she’s too short to jump on that dock,” he explained.

The thought of an animal needlessly suffering upset Jackson.

“I got two dogs of my own,” he said. “I could never think about throwing them in the trash can just because I couldn’t take care of them.”

Lady Freethinker commends these everyday heroes for rescuing a dog in need and going the extra mile to make sure that she ended up in safe hands.