Last Saturday, as Vitor Mangino drove to a party near his home in Brazil, he had no idea that the evening would end up taking an unpleasant turn. While at the party, Mangino’s car was stolen — a fact he discovered once he went to leave.
“When I got to the place where I’d parked, my car was no longer there,” Mangino told The Dodo. “I was desperate. I looked all over, but I couldn’t find it.”
What Mangino didn’t know at the time was that this event would ultimately change his life for the better.
That night, Mangino filed a report with the police about his stolen car. But when, over the following days, Mangino failed to hear back that his car had been found, he began to worry it was lost forever.
Then he got a call.
“It was the police sergeant. They’d found my car,” Mangino said. “He asked me if I lost a dog, too. I said, ‘No, just the car.’ Then he said, ‘Well, there’s a dog on top of your car, and he refuses to leave or let anyone get close.’ When I heard that, I got goosebumps.”
Arriving at where his car had been found, Mangino saw that the dog was still there.
Mangino had never encountered this mysterious pup before, but he felt a connection to the skinny stray dog right away.
“He was very friendly toward me,” Mangino said. “He acted like we’d been friends forever.”
It seemed that Mangino’s car now came with a dog. And that was something Mangino couldn’t pass up.
Mangino decided to adopt the sweet dog, naming him Heineken.
Where Heineken had come from exactly is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for certain: Now he’s home.
“We’re inseparable,” Mangino said.
Unfortunately, Mangino’s car was left with some damage by the people who stole it — the engine had been tampered with and the sound system was gone.
But knowing that it all led up to him meeting Heineken, Mangino’s not feeling too terribly down.
“I had a loss of about $1,000. But at least I gained a friend,” he said. “I will make him the happiest dog in the world.”
