Hot-air balloon pilot Jason Elkins was taking two couples on a romantic balloon ride over the desert when something caught his eye.

A little white dog appeared to be following the balloon.

At their landing location he limped up to the strangers and Elkins scooped up the dog intending to take him to the animal shelter. Instead he took him to an animal hospital and found the dog had been shot.

"I looked in the mirror I saw this little white head sticking up over the back seat and he looked so happy – happy to be where he was – and it broke my heart," Elkins told CBS's KPHO.

(READ the story, w/ photos, from KPHO-5)

Photo by Let Ideas Compete (CC license) / Story tip from Nicole Adams