The age of social media has a lot of downsides. Seriously, a lot. But without Facebook, you might never be able to view this footage of a woman's simple, kind gesture toward a stray dog in Turkey. And honestly, sweet moments like these make social media almost worth it.
The video, according to the Dodo, shows a woman in Zonguldak, Turkey, walking out of a café on a rainy day. In front of the building, a stray dog lies curled up in a tight ball. He's right underneath the overhang, trying to hide from the rain. He looks cold and uncomfortable.
You can see the woman stop and hesitate, trying to figure out how to help. A moment later, she puts down her umbrella, takes off her scarf, and gently places it over the dog. Then she keeps right on walking.
The video is less than a minute long, but it's been viewed nearly 615,000 times over the past couple weeks — and it might just make you shed a tear or two.
A few weeks ago, a woman in Zonguldak, Turkey, went to a café on a rainy, chilly day. She was bundled up with a coat and scarf, as most people would be in such weather.
When the woman walked out of the café, she found a black-and-white pup lying on the sidewalk underneath the café's overhang.
The dog was curled up in a tight ball, and he looked like a stray.
He was shivering. As a stray, he had nothing to shelter him from the elements.
As the woman paused and contemplated how to help the poor dog, the entire moment was captured by the camera on the front of the café's building.
In the video, you can see the woman stop for a moment, looking at the dog. Then she puts down her umbrella.
And takes off her own scarf and lays it right over the dog, taking care to cover everything but his head.
Then she walks away.
Although the dog doesn't react in the video — which ends right after the woman walks away — you can only imagine how grateful he was to have a little bit of warmth on the cold sidewalk.
The woman's kind gesture was so touching, it went massively viral on Facebook. One viewer recognized the woman in the footage — her friend, Duygu Elma. Duygu is a 23-year-old newspaper editor.
"I couldn't imagine that my actions would receive this attention. I'm very surprised about it," Duygu told the Dodo.
"The weather was so cold. I just couldn't take it when I saw him shivering."
Duygu added that she's hopeful that the dog has other humans looking out for him, too. She's happy to have served as an example of what kindness can look like.
Perhaps the best thing about this video is that no one was watching what Duygu did, nor could she have known that she was on film. She didn't do it for show — just out of the kindness of her own heart.
With almost 550,000 shares on Facebook, the video has clearly inspired a lot of people. The story made national headlines, and it's now reaching viewers worldwide.
Many folks are impressed that this one woman took a moment out of her day to help a pup in need while countless others walked by and ignored him.
"A beautiful soul," one Twitter user said.
Clearly, Duygu's conscience is solid.
Still, others are worried about the dog in the video. Is he OK? Is he still cold?!
Because with the power of social media, we could buy that dog a million scarves. All the scarves in the world!
Or, even better, get him into a warm forever home.
