Good Samaritan Wilma Price was busy doing errands at her local Walmart in Huntsville when she suddenly spotted a homeless man. She didn’t think much of him at first, but then Wilma got a closer look at what was written on the cardboard sign.
“Dog in pound. Please help,” the sign read.
Wilma didn’t approach the homeless stranger at first because she was only carrying about $8 in cash, but she went back.
Wilma wanted to hear the man’s story and wanted to know if she could be of any help.
The woman is an animal lover and could see that the man was desperate to get his dog back.
“I looked at him and I couldn’t get over it,” the woman later told to CBS News. “He looked like a little boy standing there lost.”
The man Patrick honestly said to her that he had spent the past few nights in jail because he was accused of trespassing. Because of the man’s arrest, his loyal pup Fred Frederick was impounded by the police department. Fred was then labeled as a stray dog.
The minute Patrick got out of jail, he tried to get his pup back at all costs. Hearing that Fred would be deemed a stray dog and was sent to a shelter was heartbreaking for him.
He got in touch with the shelter where Fred was being held, but they told him that he’d need $120 dollars for impoundment costs, as well as costs for the necessary vaccinations.
“I’m not leaving town until I get my dog,” the man said to Wilma.
The man was clearly emotional about the whole situation and Wilma decided that she would do anything to help. Because Wilma didn’t have enough money with her, she gave Patrick his card and decided to try and help him get his dog back when she got home.
She first called the shelter just to make sure that Patrick’s pup was still being held there, and then phoned a friend who was willing to financially help this man get his beloved pup back.
It didn’t take long before Wilma and Patrick met again at the animal shelter, with the necessary money to reunite the man with his loyal four-footer.
“He is a wonderful man and Franklin is a wonderful dog,” the woman posted on her Facebook page.
Patrick finally got his best buddy back and couldn’t thank Wilma enough.
According to the Wilma, Patrick’s eyes were becoming very watery and he was overwhelmed with happiness.
The man then also offered her the limited cash he was able to collect before he met her, but she refused. Instead, she wanted him to go grab a meal for himself and Fred.
“I did this because I would want somebody to do it for me. I’ve (looked after) homeless animals all my life and dedicated my life to them.
“We all could be in his situation in the blink of an eye and you never know somebody’s situation or what’s going on in their life.”
“I am not a very judgmental person and I never judge somebody by the cover of their book – until you’ve walked in their shoes you have no idea what somebody [has gone] through.”
“You should always pay it forward if you’re able because like I said, in the blink of an eye you could be in the same situation.”
“I know how hard I struggle every day just to make sure that the animals have everything and will never end back up on the street again while they’re waiting for their forever home.”
“You did more for me than most people have done in my life,” Patrick said to Wilma. “You don’t know how much I thank you.”
This fantastic act of kindness hasn’t gone unnoticed, as Wilma and Patrick’s story has been shared on the internet thousands of times.
The two are still good friends, and she even created a GoFundMe account for Patrick and Fred to help them out, which amassed more than $7,500 at the time.
“The lesson here is don’t judge a book by their covers,” Wilma concluded. “That’s the whole thing. We’re in such a judgmental world. Everybody deserves a chance — you never know, in the blink of an eye that could be you.”
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Source: CBS News, Telegraph, Facebook, Chron
