Two Wisconsin dogs escaped before being rescued by a bus driver on a cold winter's night

A bus driver opened door and let her late-night passengers - a pit bull and Doberman pinscher - inside. Photo / CCTV footage

Jamie Grabowski had just finished her bus route in Milwaukee on December 18 when she noticed something peculiar around midnight: two dogs, seemingly unattended, darting in and out of the road.

Cognizant of freezing temperatures in the area that night, Grabowski, a Milwaukee County Transit System driver, decided her trip back to the garage would have to wait. Surveillance video shows her bring the vehicle to a stop before calling out to the two dogs, who stayed closely attached to each other as she beckoned them closer.

"Hey, you two! You need to go home right now," Grabowski is heard saying in the video. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon inside!"

Grabowski's plea was successful. She opened the door and quickly guided her late-night passengers - a pit bull and Doberman pinscher - inside. The two pups explored the bus cabin while Grabowski called authorities and explained her predicament.

"I got them on the bus because I thought they were going to get hit," she's heard telling a Milwaukee County Transit System dispatcher before turning to the dogs. "Come here, babies! I know. Come here - I'm going to get you home."

A Milwaukee bus driver helped two lost dogs reunite with their owner. Photo / Milwaukee County Transit System

Grabowski, a self-described "dog whisperer," played with her two new friends until a police officer arrived, according to the transit system, which published her story online as part of a longer series recognising its employees for "big and small acts of kindness."

An officer retrieved the dogs from the bus and delivered them to the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, which cares for stray animals. She later learned that the dogs, both about 2 years old, had escaped from their family's yard nearly 5km from where they were found.

MCTS Bus Driver Jamie Grabowski got to reunite today with the two pups she found. She also met the dogs' grateful family for the first time! #MCTSExcellence https://t.co/MYavaVvziv pic.twitter.com/XH3G21cxN7

— RideMCTS (@RideMCTS) December 23, 2019

The family was looking for them all night. Grabowski said she was grateful to be in the right place to help the dogs, who could have frozen to death in the -6C weather.

In photos later published by the transit system, Grabowski is shown meeting the owners of the "very good boys" she helped rescue - reuniting the family just in time for the holidays.