When a husky named Koda set out on her morning walk earlier this month, she had no idea she was about to save a life.

Around 5:45 a.m., Koda and her mom were walking on their regular route past the Fearless Kitty Rescue building. Koda usually stops to sniff around the area, but this time something was different.

“She made a beeline to our donation bench,” Teryn Jones, events and marketing coordinator at Fearless Kitty Rescue, told The Dodo. “On our donation bench was a cooler that was zipped up, no holes, and then wrapped up in a garbage bag. Koda wouldn’t leave it. She was like, ‘There’s something in there. I want in there! Mom, look!’”

Koda’s mom was startled by her pup’s excited reaction and unzipped the cooler. A black cat popped her head out and began to gasp for air. Even though it was still early, it was already getting hot outside, and the cat seemed relieved to be free.

Koda’s mom contacted a volunteer at the rescue, who rushed over to welcome the cat inside and out of the sun.

“She was just shaken up and was kind of in freeze-mode,” Jones said. “And that’s how she’s been since.”

The little black cat, now known as Juliane, has been slowly acclimating to life at the rescue.

“She’s so sweet and very nervous and shy,” Jones said. “But she loves being pet — she purrs and rolls around on her belly. The resilience of her, in going through, what she went through is really amazing.”

“In the Danish culture, the name Juliane means ‘Fearless,’” Fearless Kitty Rescue wrote on Facebook. “And Fearless she is!”

But Juliane isn’t out of the woods just yet. A vet exam found a large mass on Juliane’s tail, which will require surgery. Once she’s healed and feeling better, Juliane will be ready to start her search for a loving forever home.

“She’s very sweet and very clean — so she’s your ideal cat,” Jones said. “She sits and does her own thing, she doesn’t make a mess … She’s just very dainty.”

Thanks to Koda, Juliane has a second chance at a happy life — proving that guardian angels come in all shapes and sizes.