Irvine, California - For weeks, a small dog sat lonely and abandoned on the side of the road, waiting for his owners to finally come back for him... but they never did.

It had been a month since they had cruelly dumped him outside, leaving him there to fend for himself.

The four-legged friend had been wandering around the neighborhood ever since, making friends with another dog who lived nearby.

Unfortunately, this was only a small ray of hope for the stray.

As animal rights activist Suzette Hall reported on Instagram, the owner of his new pal was not at all happy about the uninvited guest on his property.

And so he shooed the little pup away, over and over again.

Fortunately, some neighbors noticed the dog and provided him with food and some water. However, as he was so frightened, he didn't really let anyone get close to him.

"Poor baby. Thank God he had that little friend, though," Hall wrote in reference to the dog friend that he continued to visit secretly despite the unfriendly owner.

"[It was] the only thing keeping him from being completely alone," Hall wrote.

No wonder Hall soon rushed to the dog's aid.

And then it was a case of waiting – and waiting and waiting.

It wasn't until the next morning, after the little one had hidden away terrified, that Hall finally managed to lure him in with a few hot dogs.

"I know he had never tasted a treat like that before," she wrote.

Without further ado, Hall put the pooch in the car and drove him to an animal shelter before placing him with a foster family until a forever home opened up.

"The sweet baby who waited for a month… The little soul who had only his friend to keep him company… Was finally safe," Hall said.

"Those painful mats will be stripped away. That long, lonely waiting is over. This sweet little boy is safe now. And he never has to wait again."