It was 3:30 AM when New York City subway operator Ernest McClain narrowly missed hitting an injured puppy that had made its way onto the train tracks – thankfully, he noticed the poor pup just in time.

McClain, who pilots the "L" line train for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, says he was shocked to see the beige pit bull limping along the subway tracks near Bushwick.

in order to avoid hitting the dog, McClain slowed the train down to a 10-miles-per-hour crawl for over 3 miles. The journey lasted for nine stops over the course of 40 minutes.

According to MTA worker Edlin Cruz, the confused canine had a cut on its leg and it had been limping its way along the tracks when it was first spotted from the train. As the subway workers were anxiously keeping track of the dog's location, it finally meandered into to the Graham Avenue station.

"[Cruz] jumped down, got the dog's attention, grabbed the dog by its hind legs, and pulled it on the platform," McClain told the New York Post. "I was beeping the horn and yelling at the track workers, ‘There's a dog on the track!'" said McClain. "I didn't want to see the dog die."

Since it had no collar or identification, it was turned over to the NYC police.

Additionally, the workers were happy to hear that the dog was taken care of since they immediately rushed back to work so that they could address the delays.

MTA workers say that the dog, who was nicknamed "Lucky", was fortunate to have gotten lost during the early hours of Monday morning because it only caused several delays behind McClain's train.

(WATCH the video below – or, international viewers can watch the video at CBS News)

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