Florida - Maria Avery bought a supposed Chihuahua puppy from a street musician in Florida a while ago. The man demanded $500 from Avery, but she couldn't afford that much. After some hard negotiations, the woman got the dog... but he was no Chihuahua!

"The second I saw him, I knew he was coming home with me. I knew I couldn't leave him on the street in that condition," Avery explained in an interview with Newsweek.

"The man was actually feeding him pizza crust, and little sips of Mountain Dew from the cap," she added.

"There was no way I was leaving at night without the dog."

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She then negotiated with him for more than an hour before he finally settled for $340.

Avery thought the man who played the violin on the street was someone in need, perhaps a homeless person, so she is all the more relieved today that she took the animal off his hands.

But when she came home with the dog that evening, she already suspected that it was not a Chihuahua.

Avery didn't really care what type of dog he was – all that mattered to her was that she had saved him.

Leo, as he is now called, is now fully grown.

He no longer looks much like a Chihuahua, but it's not entirely clear which breed he belongs to.

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What is certain, however, is that Avery's story has become a viral hit on TikTok.

And the musician? She meets him on the street every now and then, Avery said.

"He looks at me with a crazy look in his eyes and says, 'How's the dog?' I say, 'He's good, he's happier than ever,'" the proud owner reported.