Truck driver goes 2,800 miles to rescue a pit bull

“Listen, do not put him down. I’m on my way over there.”

To the person on the other end of the line at

Animal Care Centers of NYC

, it must have sounded like Mario Rodriguez was just around the corner. He wasn’t, though. Not even close.

As documented in the tear jerker video from

The Dodo

, truck driver Rodriguez was making a delivery in California when his wife sent him a link to an adoption listing for a pit bull named Hickory in New York.

“I started reading everything and just the look on his face was like I connected with him immediately,” Rodriguez says in the video. “When I saw that he was going to be euthanized, something was telling me ‘Just go!'”

He then asked his boss if he could get a delivery route to New York, which of course he got. During the 2,800-mile journey, he kept calling the shelter to make sure they knew he was on his way and that they didn’t put Hickory down.

After that, well,

watch the video

. In short: Rodriguez now has a new buddy for future 2,800-mile hauls. Oh, and get the tissues ready.