You never know how or when pets will come into your life. When a FedEx delivery driver came across an emaciated dog on the road, it ended up changing both of their lives.

FedEx driver Alex Badecker was on their usual route in Virginia recently when they spotted a heartbreaking sight: two emaciated pit bulls were in the middle of the road, desperate for help.

It was evident that the dogs had been abandoned, and they both had wounds in their sides. “I pulled over. I was checking to see if they had any tags or anything like that, nothing on them,” Alex told WTVR. “But as soon as I saw them… it nearly made me cry.”

Fed Ex brought us these 2 dogs, found laying in the road on 631, just off 360 in Nottoway County. I received a call from someone who said they were the owner but now I can’t reach him! PLEASE TEXT IF YOU ARE THE OWNER OR KNOW WHO THEY BELONG TO! 804-551-2908
Please hold negative comments. Not everyone knows where to turn for help. We offered to give him food & medicine when I talked to him. They are both very sweet & friendly dogs. Male is neutered. Sometimes people just need help, and we are willing to help if he truly loves his dogs and wants our

Though Alex says they’re not supposed to have passengers, they were concerned that the dogs were in danger of being struck by a car, so Alex took the dogs along the route. “I knew I needed to finish that last delivery, but I kept thinking it would be wrong to leave them,” Alex told People.

After finishing the deliveries, Alex took the dogs to the nearby Morgan’s Mutts Rescue. One of the dogs was named FedEx, the other was named Autumn.

The dogs were filthy and emaciated, and it was clear they had suffered through a lot. After days of medical examinations, they made the heartbreaking decision to humanely euthanize FedEx: x-rays showed a mass in his small bowel and it was unlikely he would survive surgery.