A dog whose owner died from COVID-19 in South Carolina is now safe in a new forever home in the Hudson Valley thanks to a local animal rescue.

Bruiser took a journey by plane and car on Sunday after his owner died and he was put in a kill shelter.

Staff with Grateful Doggies Rescue in Warwick helped organize the rescue efforts into the Orange County Airport in Montgomery when one of its volunteers alerted them to the 9-year-old dog’s plight.

“Even if he did have a chance, it was just getting lower and lower and lower. And you know a lot of the shelters are completely shut down and not taking any new intakes so the chances of him being euthanized were pretty high," says Steve Quilliam, of Grateful Doggies Rescue.

Grateful Doggies Rescue has helped transport thousands of dogs in kill shelters to find homes in New York.

In Bruiser’s case, he’s now with his former owner’s sister.

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