A PETA fieldworker could—and it’s a good thing he did, too, because it’s likely that this little pug mix would not have survived much longer tied up by a short leash in subfreezing temperatures without any shelter whatsoever.

The fieldworker miraculously spotted tiny Ping Pong amid a cluster of garbage bins, piles of aluminum cans, and an abandoned car while driving down a rural North Carolina road en route to help other neglected dogs.

A little investigating revealed that Ping Pong’s circumstances were even more dire than they at first appeared. The fieldworker found out that the 1-year-old pup’s elderly owner was suffering from mental-health problems and was no longer even living at the property!

We enlisted the help of the sheriff’s department to confiscate Ping Pong and then gained custody of him so that we could find the perfect match for this bouncing bundle of joy.

Lob us an e-mail at [email protected]—you know you want to!—to learn more about Ping Pong and help us make sure that this playful, affectionate pup with the winning smile always has a home-field advantage.