53 year old Keith Walker has been homeless since he was but 16 years old.
He is very grateful to a wonderful local no-kill shelter, W-Underdogs, who lets him keep his dog Bravo there at night for food and warmth. Keith is always there as soon as they’re open to retrieve his companion and friend.
In the early morning of December 18th, Keith first saw the smoke, and then the flames emanating from the kitchen area of the shelter.
“I was nervous as hell, I’m not going to lie. I was really scared to go in there with all that smoke. But God put me there to save those animals.
If you love a dog, you can love anyone in the world. My dog is my best friend, and I wouldn’t be here without him, so I knew I had to save all those other dogs.”
The kitchen was already engulfed and the area where the animals were was already on fire and full of black smoke.
W-Underdogs was in the middle of transferring their operations to a larger facility in Atlanta and most of the animals were already moved...but there was still six dogs, including Keith’s dog Bravo, and ten cats.
He released the dogs, started picking up the cat cages, grabbed some leashes and brought everyone outside, going in multiple times to make sure there was no one left behind.
By then the fire department was there, but wanted nothing to do with the dogs and allowed Keith to continue.
He saved all sixteen animals!
Said founder Gracie Hamlin,
"He is my guardian angel. Even the firefighters didn't want to handle the dogs. They called animal control, but Keith was already in the building pulling out the cats and dogs until they were all safe."
“I can’t thank him enough for saving my animals.”
“He is my hero.”
It goes without saying….. he is ours as well!
Here is the gofundme to help Keith and Bravo, if so inclined.
And to help the shelter who in turn helps the homeless by providing food, medicine and shelter for their animals, free of charge….as they do for the community at large!
They also make and distribute free dog houses….and so much more.
Here is their remarkable mission statement-
The goal of the W-Underdogs is to address the challenges that at-risk youth face and provide them with the skills and sense of accomplishment to help overcome these challenges in their lives. We believe that the W-Underdogs program will energize the kids and their families and in turn, contribute to a better community both short and long term.
Teaching
We teach the kids how to manage, care for, and train dogs and cats. They learn personal discipline and responsibility as they rehabilitate the animals. They learn how to care for animals and, in turn, how to care for themselves and have compassion for others. Our main goal is currently is to be able to provide a more comprehensive “tool box” for the kids to learn the skills outlined above, and to carefully and selectively expand the program so more kids can participate.
It goes even further, but suffice it to say….
….they are awesome from stem to stern.
w-underdogs.org
They all deserve nothing but good things.