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Tom and Caroline have a dog at home — a female beagle named Fannie — and are naturally canine friendly. There was no way they were leaving the forlorn little guy behind, so they put him in the van and Caroline went off to find a veterinarian or a shelter for help in finding his owner.

A veterinarian was found in Le Boulou but the dog had neither a microchip nor a tattoo. The clinic put the word out in the community that a stray dog had been picked up, took down her information and sent her on her way.

Photo by Photo supplied / .

When I arrived at Argelès-sur-Mer, our destination that night, the rest of the gang were hanging out at one the many bars along the beach, and lo and behold, Caroline and the dog were there, too. Luckily the hotel accepted pets so they kept him for the night.

Within no time, they had given him a temporary name: Arthur Perpignan, because he was found near the larger French town of Perpignan and he definitely looked like an “Arthur”.

Tom summed up their thoughts in the trip blog: “On our last day of riding in the Pyrenees, Caroline and I came across a skinny Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen … who had obviously been trying and slowly failing to survive on his own … At first we picked him up to take him to a vet … to see if he could be identified … Over the next couple of days while we were trying to figure out where to take him, it became increasingly clear that the answer to that question was ‘home.’

Photo by Lori Henley / .

Two days later, we arrived in Barcelona. By this time, passage was booked on our flight back to Canada and a carrier was purchased. A veterinarian was found to administer a rabies shot and supply a health passport. Throughout this time, Arthur was very quiet and shy. He would let me pet him, but there was virtually no response. His tail was still curled between his legs, his appetite was poor and he barely moved.