“[H]e was the friendly ghost hiding in the walls …”

Over the weekend, a couple of neighbors in East Los Angeles, California, noticed a strange occurrence on their block. A fluffy white head kept popping out from a tiny crevice separating two nearby garages when no one was watching, and it would disappear as soon as they turned to look.

When the neighbors went to check, they found confirmation of their worst fear: Someone was living in the tiny space between the garages

A small pup, who appeared to be less than a year old, looked back at them. He was wedged between two concrete slabs, and while he could shimmy out on his own, the opening was far too narrow for any human to fit.

The scared dog scurried deep into the crevice to avoid contact with the concerned neighbors. They decided to leave food out for the pup, hoping it would lure him out. But as soon as they left, he helped himself to the food, then darted to another hiding spot that was equally hard to reach.

After a couple of days of failed attempts, the neighbors contacted Logan’s Legacy 29 founder Suzette Hall for help.

When the experienced rescuer arrived with some volunteers, she was shocked by the lack of space between the walls and couldn’t figure out how the pup fit.

“It was [so] hard to even reach him,” Hall wrote on Facebook. “The space was so tiny.”

Hall tried offering every high-value treat she could think of, but nothing would lure the pup out of his safe place while people were standing there. He felt secure enough to eat the treats they’d left behind only when the rescuers hid in a nearby bush.

“He would come out, and we would hide,” Hall wrote. “He would eat everything around the trap but wouldn’t go in. We would run back to the wall.”

The rescuers abandoned the idea of luring him out with food and decided to try pushing him closer to the opening instead. One volunteer, Kassandra, scaled the brick wall behind the garages and used a long tree branch to coax him out.

When he was finally close enough to the opening, Hall reached a snappy snare leash into the crevice and slipped it around his neck. She carefully pulled him out, then celebrated the end of a difficult rescue.

You can watch that moment here:

Hall loaded the dog in her van and headed to Camino Pet Hospital. On the way there, he enjoyed a much-needed nap in front of the air conditioning vent, and she came up with the perfect name for him.

“We named him Casper because he was the friendly ghost hiding in the walls, and he’s white,” Hall told The Dodo.

Casper soon arrived at the vet, where he received a thorough checkup and a refreshing spa treatment. Later that day, he fell asleep with a fresh haircut and a new lease on life — and he’s been thriving ever since.

“He’s doing so good,” Hall said. “When I first got him, he was so scared. But now he’s rolling over for belly rubs and wanting love. He’s just so sweet.”

Casper is on his way to a foster family this week, but he’s still searching for a forever home. With his sweet personality and the luck of a stray dog whose neighbors refused to ignore him, Hall knows the right family will find him soon.

“He’s a little miracle for sure, just hiding behind the wall,” Hall said. “He’s so lucky he was noticed.”