The sight that reduced many Facebook users to tears: A grieving pit bull who stayed by the side of his dead mate for more than 14 hours before rescuers came to take her away.

The female pit pull was hit by a car on South 16th Street in Phoenix and died immediately, according to Fox News Phoenix.

The male pit bull sat by the body, kissing her for more than 14 hours before Animal Control removed the body.

The male is in healthy condition, but appears to be withdrawn and sad, Rodrigo Silva from Animal Control told Fox News Phoenix. 'If he continues to show these signs of withdrawal we will place him in a recovery home that can help him with his grieving, he said.

Animal control has not yet decided when the dog will be put up for adoption, but after the photo was shared on Facebook more than 2,000 times, many people are eager to take him into their homes. The incident attracted a lot of attention after Facebook users vented their anger at Animal Control for taking 14 hours to rescue the dogs.

I am so pissed about this, said Chicago based Facebook user Karyn Aspan in a phone interview on Fox News Phoenix. After seeing the photograph she called the Phoenix mayor's office to find out what had happened to the animals.

They are going to look into this and find out why it took them 14.5 hours to get the dogs picked up, she said.

Other animal lovers believe the pooch should be put in a recovery home right away. This is so sad and also so incredible... this shows all of us that animals have feelings and that we should treat them with love and respect. They are living, feeling creatures. I get so upset when I read about people who abuse animals, they should go to jail for that. I hope this pit bull find a loving home and gets another partner to play with. poor baby!!!! They should put him in a recovery home now, why wait? Daily Mail reader Marth McKinney wrote in a comment.

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