Police Officer Kareem Garibaldi was out on patrol in a Florida neighborhood in the early morning hours when he narrowly averted hitting a stray puppy running loose in the street!
After noticing the puppy had no dog tag or collar, the officer began searching around the neighborhood to see if he could find her owner. Having no luck, the Lakeland Police Department officer brought the puppy back to the station to feed her before bringing her home with him when his shift ended.
The very next morning, on his own time, Garibaldi brought the puppy to the SPCA Florida to be checked over by a vet.
Exhausted, he waited on the bench with the puppy, and both of them caught a much-needed nap. That’s when Safety Net Manager, Connie Johnson arrived and snapped the now viral photo below:
Photo credit: SPCA Florida/Connie Johnson
“At the end of his third day, 12 hour shift, Officer Garibaldi, on his own time, transported the dog to the SPCA to be checked out,” the Lakeland Police Department wrote on Facebook. “He sat there from 8:45am to 12:00 p.m. as the vet checked the puppy out when this picture was taken and posted to Twitter. Later that day, the puppy found a new home.”
Photo credit: Lakeland Police Department
The puppy, now named Hope, is an 8 to 10-week old Pit Bull/Boxer mix. Fortunately, she was in good health and so Garibaldi brought Hope back to the station with him. It was there that she found a new home! One of the officers at the station fell in love with her that very day and has decided to adopt her!
Hope’s happy ending might not have happened if it had not been for Garibaldi’s kindness.
“It’s the kindhearted officers like this that makes the Lakeland Police Department truly unique,” Garibaldi’s colleagues wrote on Facebook. “Having worked a long weekend, Officer Garibaldi still found the energy at the end of his shift to help man’s best friend.”
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