“I took a closer look and saw eyes staring back at me!”

For the three years they’ve been together, Daisy Phillips has always known that her beloved dog, Goose, is a special pup.

But recently, Goose proved himself to be a hero, too.

The other day, while out for their regular walk down a forested nature trail near their home in Texas, Phillips began to notice Goose tugging her off the path and into the woods.

“At first, I didn’t think anything of it, because he likes to ‘walk’ me more than I walk him,” Phillips told The Dodo. “I assumed he had smelled some other animal that had left their mark on the trail, but quickly realized it was much more than that.”

Goose and his mom were a short ways off the path when she finally saw it — a bright pink crate at the bottom of a ditch.

“I thought someone had dumped their trash in the ditch,” Phillips said. “I took a closer look and saw eyes staring back at me!”

Inside the crate were four abandoned cats. They’d been zip-tied shut in that pink cage and left to die in a spot impossible to see from the trail.

But Goose had found them in time for their lives to be saved.

Phillips called her family for help with hoisting the crate out of the deep ditch, after which they gave the cats some food.

“They were starving,” Phillips said.

Next, Phillips and her family called local animal control for help.

Before long, the four cats were brought to the Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center. It was clear to all involved that this was a “heartbreaking case of animal cruelty,” the cats’ rescuers wrote, adding:

“We have no way to know how long they were stuck in these conditions. Help us be their voice and hold those responsible accountable.”

The cats, now named Ginger, Sporty, Baby and Posh, are receiving medical treatment and are said to be recovering.