In the vast ocean of heartbreaking dog stories, this one is sure to make you shed tears.

Maru, the sweetest of dogs, is the main protagonist. And if he could talk, I am completely sure that he would trade all the fame he has accumulated for different life circumstances.

Tied in a remote location near a dangerous cliff, Maru lost ten years of his life due to negligence. However, he never lost hope for a better tomorrow!

Maru’s story begins fourteen years ago, when he was just a puppy. When he was just a few months old, his owner acquired him at a high price and kept him in the family for four years. But then, disappointment came!

Upon being handed over to another owner, Maru was relegated to remaining tied outside. Not in his wildest dreams could this tender cub have imagined that he would spend most of his existence chained.

He was kept on a short leash in a small kennel that served as his home. He was so close to the cliff that his life was threatened day after day.

“Over the years, we have encountered numerous cases of abandoned dogs, but this place was one of the most heartbreaking. The small structure, which seemed to be a home to the dog, was located on the edge of a cliff,” the rescue team wrote on Instagram.

Poor Maru spent years huddled under a piece of metal, which basically served as a roof. There she took shelter from the heavy rains and the cold. Unfortunately, she was also forced to relieve herself there.

The kind people at WEACT acted quickly to carry out a rescue mission as soon as they heard Maru’s story. What shocked them the most was the fact that Maru was there for years without receiving any help.

They felt terribly sorry for having arrived too late. Maru was already in her twilight years, and yet she hadn’t had the chance to experience the true meaning of a warm home over the last decade.

As rescuers approached him, fearing the worst, something incredible happened! Instead of being aggressive and unsociable, Maru greeted them with the sweetest smile and wagging tail.

He was extremely happy to have people around, as if he was trying to express to them how alone and sad he had felt all this time.

The team soon picked him up and took him to their facility.

During the journey to a new life, Maru was quite nervous, but all his doubts vanished once he arrived at the shelter. He was served a large plate of dog food which he devoured in a matter of minutes.

He was extremely hungry and emaciated, although his fur said otherwise. Maru had several layers of hair hanging from his body that made him look larger than he was.

“The tangle of hair hanging from his body looked like armor,” WEACT wrote.

Then came a grooming session… and another unpleasant surprise

When his matted fur was finally removed after 10 years, Maru looked like a tiny child. She was extremely underweight and needed to gain at least fifteen pounds to look like she was supposed to.

The traces of his hard life accumulated over the years were visible everywhere. He had scars on his body and many teeth were missing. The worst part was that Maru was diagnosed with stage 2 heartworms.

Yet despite all that, he was very loving and affectionate, just happy to be away from that small, inadequate structure.