Julie Turner was driving around her New York neighborhood when she spotted a tiny lump shivering by the side of the road. She made up her mind to approach it, and as she got closer, she discovered that the striped lump was a frightened guinea pig.

“I was heartbroken,” Turner told “The Dodo” publishment. “I knew that little guy was probably struggling to find warmth and food. I couldn’t understand why someone would just leave their own pet to fend for themself like that.”

Since the guinea was afraid of the woman, she quickly ran into the woods. “I couldn’t leave him,” Turner wrote in a post on TikTok (@mabiltzu). Turner tried to entice him with a hamster treat, but it was in vain, so the next day, with the help of a local animal rescue specialist, Turner was able to catch the guinea pig and bring him home.

Though slowly, but the little animal learned to trust people.

“I went to the supermarket and got him all sorts of greens and other vegetables as well as guinea pig food and alfalfa,” Turner said. “I filled his cage and he ate so much! I was shocked to see how much food he could consume in such a short time, but I’m sure he was very hungry.”

Turner found for her a new home and owner named Melissa. She is full of desire to help and take care of the cutie now named Refus.