For more than two weeks, Hatem Abuharbid’s dog waited for his owner to come home.
Every day, the neighbors would see him sitting near the doorstep or lingering at the front gates of the Houston apartment complex, eagerly searching for Abuharbid’s car.
“You could just tell that he was a lost dog,” neighbor Cassandra Eubanks told KTRK. “He would follow the cars and when he would realize that it was not his owner's car, he would just stand there and look helpless.”
What the devoted dog didn't know was that his owner wasn’t coming home. Abuharbid, 54, was killed in an armed robbery earlier this month.
According to KTRK, residents at the apartment complex left food and water for Abuharbid’s dog, but the pooch shunned human contact.
After hearing about the dog’s plight on social media, an area resident named Maranda Perez came forward to help the animal. She brought her own dog to the apartment complex, and was able to gain the trust of Abuharbid’s pooch after almost an hour of coaxing.
Perez will reportedly foster him for a week, but says Abuharbid's brother has expressed a willingness to adopt the pooch after that.
As the dog's story went viral this week, several netizens also stepped forward and offered to take in the pup.
Abuharbid was killed on Feb. 7 when two armed robbers ambushed him at the convenience store where he worked. He was shot in the thigh and later died in the hospital. Police told ABC News that the investigation into the robbery was ongoing.