Grieving pit bull stays with dead mate for 14 HOURS... and four days later, he's still so sad he can't be adopted

The image of the two animals was shared more than 2,000 times over the weekend, as users urged one another to find out what happened to the animals and what could be done to get them the help they needed.

'These kinds of cases touch people's hearts,' said Rodrigo Silva of Animal Care and Control to the MailOnline.

The pair stayed at the roadside, cars whizzing by, for so long that a local business put out food and water for the male pit bull.

Nuzzling his lost love, the male dog would not leave her side.

Karyn Aspan, a Facebook user from Chicago that saw the photograph, was moved from sadness to anger.

'I am so pissed about this,' said Karyn Aspan said on her Facebook wall. 'Animal control responded 14.5 hours later.'

After seeing the photo, she sprung to action, calling the mayor of Phoenix's office and rallying support for the animal.

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.

Animal Control told My Fox Phoenix that it was the Sanitation Department that stalled in picking up the dogs, but that now, the male is recovering slowly.

'He is doing well,' Mr Silva said. 'He's a little withdrawn and he appears to be very sad.'

Mr Silva thinks that the dogs may have an owner because the male had a harness on him when he was found.

However, that person has not emerged to claim him. Without an owner, the male pit bull's future is uncertain.

'If he continues to show these signs of withdrawal we will place him in a recovery home that can help him with his grieving,' Mr Silva said.

'I am not certain we will be placing him up for adoption.'

They will decide the animal's fate on Wednesday, though many interested people have reached out to take the sweet dog into their loving homes.