Going about her day inside her loving home, a devoted animal lover by the name of Sabrina Garcia noticed a little furry intruder.

An adorable mouse managed to get inside her house, making himself comfortable and indulging in all of Garcia’s possessions.

Since she was not looking for a pet at the time, Garcia caught the little guy and rushed outside to set him free. As she was looking for a safe place to release him, she noticed a sewer drain that would serve as the perfect shelter.

But when she approached, she saw that somebody was already hiding there.

Rescue Mission

A pair of big, glowing eyes was staring right at Garcia, filled with anxiety and sorrow.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that the eyes belonged to a pup who managed to find its way into the sewer, completely hidden away from the world above.

Garcia contacted Suzette Hall, the founder of a rescue organization in Irvine, California, without hesitation.

“They couldn’t believe their eyes when they looked down and saw him. [H]e couldn’t even cry for help because nobody would [have] heard him,” Hall wrote on Facebook.

Naming the pup Donatello, Hall and her team of volunteers decided to figure out how he got into the sewer in the first place.

After looking around for a bit, they found only a small opening, too small for Donatello to crawl in by himself. It was at this moment that they realized this was no accident.

“There was no way he got down there by himself. Someone had to put him there!” Hall wrote.

This shocking discovery fueled the rescuers’ determination, which helped them find a manhole cover hiding a ladder—just what they needed to get Donatello out.

Two rescuers climbed down into the sewer and went to look for the pup while Hall and others eagerly awaited their return.

Minutes later, the rescuers were climbing up with Donatello in their embrace.

“We did it! He was and is nothing short of a miracle,” Hall wrote.

Road To Recovery

The rescue team immediately loaded the pup onto their van and rushed him to the Camino Pet Hospital. Having endured so much, Donatello fell asleep in the arms of her rescuers, finally feeling safe.

The staff of the Irvine hospital conducted a thorough medical exam on Donatello, where they discovered that he not only ate trash in order to survive but that he also had a small towel lodged in his intestines.

“He was so hungry, he ate whatever he could. He would have died down [there],” Hall wrote on Facebook.

Donatello’s health wasn’t in good condition. Luckily, a team of loving hoomans and medical professionals made sure he received all the help he could get, including emergency surgery, resulting in him making a full recovery in no time!

This adorable boy still has a long way to go until he is able to completely come out of his shell, but with some dedication, love, and, of course, warm cuddles, his hoomans are sure that he will be back on his paws in the blink of an eye.

With one more surgery to go, Donatello is already looking forward to living a happy life in a warm and loving home of his own. And, until then, his temporary family is making sure that every bit of anxiety leaves his body, transforming him into the confident pup he once was.

“[H]e is worth it. It’s time he learns what love is,” Hall wrote on Facebook.