A down-on-his-luck Californian man had his impounded dog returned to him after a stranger took a heartbreaking photo of the pair together at an animal shelter and posted it online asking for charity donations – but now he’s threatening to sue her, Breaking Celebrity News is reporting.

Last week, Dave Thomas of San Bernardino was briefly jailed for failing to appear in court for traffic violations and his dog, a 2-year-old pit bull mix called Buzz Lightyear was taken to San Bernardino City Animal Shelter on February 13.

When Thomas was released he tried to pick up his beloved pooch from the shelter - but couldn’t afford the $400 fee to get his pet out, KABC reported, via Huffington Post.

However, as Thomas was struggling to come to terms with his plight, and the loss of his canine companion, Maria Sanchez, a photographer at the shelter, took a snap on her camera that pulls at the heartstrings.

“He was pouring water into his dog's water bowl, his dog sat there and licked up the water for about a minute, he sat down next to him and started weeping,” Sanchez told KABC.

Realizing she had to act, Sanchez posted the picture on Facebook and urged strangers to help Thomas. She didn’t have any contact details for him, so she posted messages online, as well as drove around town posting flyers asking for help to ID Thomas.

Donations poured in for the sob story. And on Monday evening, KABC identified Thomas and put him in touch with Sanchez, who told him that the cost of getting Buzz back was covered.