One Look at the Photo of a Dog Standing Guard Over His Fallen Friend and It's Easy to See Why It's Gone Viral

Michael Mason was leaving church earlier this month when he saw a dog standing by the curb on the side of the road. A closer look revealed the dog was standing directly over his injured friend.

“The look on his face: ‘Can someone help me?’ He was watching over him like a guard dog,” the Atlanta man told WSB-TV.

The photo of this dog standing over his injured friend went viral. While his friend couldn't be saved, he's now looking for a loyal home. (Image source: Facebook via WSB-TV)

The photo went viral after Mason posted it online, even being reposted by "The Walking Dead" actress Kylie Szymanski, who wrote that she really wanted him to be saved.

"Pit bulls are always the first to be killed in a shelter but I know they are the best," Szymanski wrote.

“I never thought it would happen to me," Mason told the news station of the picture that went viral. "I wasn’t thinking about it. I was thinking about the dog."

Watch WSB-TV's report about the touching photo:

The dog, nicknamed Herman for the time being, was taken to Fulton County Animal Shelter. The veterinarian there was not able to save Herman's friend, the news station reported.

On Facebook, the shelter wrote that Herman "is very afraid here at the shelter and needs someone as loyal to him as he was to his friend in the street" to adopt him.

Herman is waiting for someone to adopt him. (Image source: Friends of Fulton County Animal Services/Facebook)

“We are grateful someone stopped and cared enough to take a picture and share it to demonstrate the power of a dog's love. And this sweet animal didn’t leave his friend when she was injured,” Cicley Gay with LifeLine Animal Project told WSB.