Tortillas Used To Lure Dog To Safety During Freezing Texas Cold

SAN ANTONIO, TX — A dog found alone in the Texas cold last week is still alive, with the help of an animal lover and what appears to be among his favorite foods: tortillas.

Kristin Salinas was out in the storm Thursday, heading home from a grocery store on Bandera Road in San Antonio, when she came across the black Labrador dog alone and shivering in the freezing cold.

She pulled to the side and used the tortillas she just bought to lure the dog into her car and out of the cold, news stations in San Antonio have reported. Video shared by News 4 San Antonio and others show Salinas using tortillas to get the dog into the car, an effort that took about 30 minutes since he initially did not want to go.

Salinas said she has rescued other stray dogs before, although this one may have an owner and family. The dog has a PawBoost profile that describes him as having "beautiful brown eyes."

He is "safe, warm and fed," the profile said.

"We just want to find his parents," it added.

Salinas said in local news reports the effort to save the dog was "definitely worth it," as she still had some tortillas left over after using some to get him in the warm car.

The act of goodwill was one of many shown by Texans during the record cold that hit the state last week and led to a failure in the state's power grid. At one point, millions of residents were left without power and dozens of cold-related deaths were confirmed statewide.

In the Austin area, a grocery store allowed shoppers to leave the store without paying for their items when the power went out. The shoppers who benefited from the gracious act by the team at the H-E-B grocery store in Leander paid it forward, according to a Washington Post report.

Out in the parking lot, shoppers were helping each other when their carts were getting stuck in the ice and snow.

“Everybody started helping each other,” Tim Hennessy, a shopper at the time, told The Post.

Inspirational acts of kindness were performed statewide, KXAN reported.

Out in Smithville, Dane Garrison spent much of a day delivering bottles of water and peanut butter crackers to people in need.

Then there is Churrascos, the popular Houston-area steakhouse chain, which offered free meals to first responders in Harris County working during the cold crisis.

More than 1,000 meals were delivered directly to employees at the downtown jail, according to a news release. The initiative is through a partnership between Mattress Mack and Gallery Furniture with World Central Kitchen.