Wilma Price, from Houston, Texas, has always been a compassionate person—especially towards animals. She even runs a non-profit pet rescue called Mr. K’s Halfway House.
So when she saw one man’s plea for help outside a Walmart in Huntsville, she knew she had to help.
The man was homeless, and was holding a homemade sign. It wasn’t an unusual sight, and with only eight dollars in her own pocket, Price couldn’t do much for him.
But then she read what was on his sign:
“Dog in pound. Need help.”
She still didn’t know what she could do—but the idea of this poor man losing his dog was too heartbreaking to bear.
“I looked at him and I couldn’t get over it,” Price told CBS News. “He looked like a little boy standing there lost.”
So she stopped to help him out.
She discovered the homeless young man’s name was Patrick, and he had lost his dog, Franklin, after he was arrested for trespassing and spent two nights in jail.
He was informed that Franklin was taken to the pound, and that it would cost $120 to get him back—the price of the impound fee plus various medical expenses.
Patrick didn’t have nearly that kind of money, and was desperately trying to raise the funds. But he was determined—even with his own difficult situation, the dog was his top priority.
“I’m not leaving this town until I get my dog,” he told Price, as she recalled to CBS.
Price was touched, and wanted to help get him the money he needed.
“He seemed like a nice, gentle soul who just happened to have a hard life,” Price told Inside Edition.
“The look in his eye was desperation.”
But with no money on her, all she could give him then was her promise.
“I offered him my business card and told him that I’ll see what I can do.”
But Price followed through and remained true to her word: she called up a friend, and relayed Patrick’s story. She was also touched, and between the two of them, they were able to pull together enough cash to rescue Franklin.
Price returned to Patrick and let him know the good news.
And within two hours of meeting, the strangers were on their way to the pound together.
In addition to getting him the cash, Price helped her homeless friend fill out the forms and paperwork.
The man and dog were finally together in a tearful reunion.
“[Franklin] was shaking when he came out of the pound,” Price recalled in a Facebook post that has since been deleted. “It was so happy, happy to see [Patrick].”
“That man loves that dog: on his backpack was the dog’s bowl and toys and it’s helping the dog against the world. The man was very very grateful.”
“He had tears in his eyes when the dog came out.”
Price even said that Patrick was so touched by her kindness he offered to give her the money he had raised himself—but she declined, hoping he would be able to use it to get himself something to eat.
“You did more for me than most people have done in my life,” Patrick told Price, according to CBS. “You don’t know how much I thank you.”
But for Price, it was just an act of compassion that she hopes to see more of in the world.
“We’ve all been in a bad situation in our life, so remember always pay it forward,” she wrote.
Not only did she help Patrick get his dog back, she wanted to help him get his life back too. She set up a GoFundMe page to help raise extra money to get the homeless man off the street.
“We’re in such a judgmental world,” she told CBS. “Everybody deserves a chance—you never know, in the blink of an eye that could be you.”