UPDATE:
If “Buster” was abandoned, it certainly wasn’t by his family.
The dog, who was left on a London bus where he stayed overnight, was just reunited with his family. Mom Paulina Rybak and kids Filip, 8, and Zofia, 3 are thrilled to have him back home.
The pup, a 4-year-old Staffie whose real name is Boston, had been taken outside for just a moment when he disappeared.
Said Rybak describes the scene in the Evening Standard:
“We took him outside and after few seconds, we couldn’t see him. We started looking for him but couldn’t find him.
On Friday, in the morning, I went to my vet and told them I lost my dog and they told me to call Newham Council.
They said: “When we find the dog, we will let you know”. But we ended up finding him on the Evening Standard website.
I was so happy I started crying. I thought we would never see him again.
The relieved pet owner said that when Boston went missing, her children were devastated at the loss of their companion. You can imagine how excited they are to have him home again!
Rybak wonders is someone had tried to steal the dog, then left him on the bus. You may recall from the original story that the bus driver, Amos Paul Mak, mentioned seeing the pup board the bus with two men.
And as for the kind-hearted Mak, who made sure the Staffie was well cared for while they searched for his home?
“I am genuinely pleased Boston is home and I will let all the staff at Stagecoach, who helped keep him comfortable and stress free, know,” he said to the Evening Standard.
Mak also mentioned that looking after Boston was a team effort, as multiple colleagues put in extra hours and made sure the dog was given comfort, food, and company throughout the night.
We love this happy ending! To read more, view the original article on the Evening Standard.
Original Story
It was a sad sight for this London bus driver.
Amos Paul Mak was driving his usual route when he noticed a downtrodden Staffordshire Terrier sitting alone on his bus. At first he thought his owner may be near, but realized that the poor pup was terrified and trembling.
Said Amos in a story by the Daily Mail:
I was driving the 158 bus when a dog came on at around 9.30pm. It looked like it came on with two men, but the pair soon got off.
The dog then stayed so I stopped the bus for five minutes and asked on the tannoy [the bus’ loudspeaker] if anyone owned the dog, but nobody came forward.
Everyone on the bus was quite sympathetic but it seemed like the dog was on its own.
Hoping to find the owner, this caring bus driver posted a picture of the pooch on Facebook.
Although local rescue groups were called, none could retrieve the pup at that hour. The police were called, but they said that the pound was full.
When the sympathetic driver finished his route and took his bus back to the garage, he offered to take the pup home for the night, but discovered it was against company policy.
“I offered to take the dog home, but I wasn’t able to because if it had bitten me, I could have sued the company,” said Amos in the story, then added, “The dog then stayed on the bus overnight because it didn’t want to be moved.”
Amos did his best to ease the dog’s anxiety before he left for the night.
“I made it comfortable and stayed with it for 15 or 20 minutes and it just didn’t want to leave the bus,” he said in the Mirror.
Bus staff made sure the Staffie’s accommodations were as comfortable as possible, providing him with food and water, although he was too anxious to eat. He was reportedly nervous but friendly, and seemed to enjoy the attention he received from the staff.
Amos dubbed him “Buster,” and he is thought to be 5 or 6 years old.
This morning, Buster was picked up by the RSPCA. Said a spokesperson in the Mirror:
We were concerned to hear about a dog that appears to have been left on a bus yesterday in the Stratford area of London.
We are grateful to the staff at the bus station for letting us know and we have advised them to contact the local dog warden as soon as possible.
Thank you to the caring bus staff! We sure hope Buster finds his forever home!
