Fire station adopts veteran’s dog, then helps reunite pair and house owner

Tom Miner said he had no place left to turn when he left Jake chained to the flagpole outside Fort Worth Fire Station 8, along with a bottle of water and a three-page handwritten letter. The 65-year-old disabled U.S. Army veteran said he and Jake had been living in a homeless camp in Fort Worth, Texas, for about 20 months after his landlord would not renew the lease because Jake is a pit bull.

Firefighters treated the dog’s arrival as more than a routine surrender. They adopted Jake as the station dog, gave him a bed, a recliner, toys and attention from all three shifts, and said the animal quickly fit into life at the station. Fort Worth fire officials said the department does not normally accept surrendered animals, making this a rare exception.

Miner said he noticed the station’s Safe Place sign and believed it was somewhere he could leave Jake safely while he tried to stabilize his own life. The larger significance of that sign is rooted in Texas law: the state’s Safe Haven, or Baby Moses, law allows parents to anonymously surrender unharmed infants 60 days old or younger at designated locations including fire stations, hospitals and EMS stations. In this case, the same sense of sanctioned refuge that protects babies also shaped how firefighters responded to a man in crisis who could no longer care for his dog.

The story widened into a housing intervention after Fort Worth Fire Department’s HOPE Team located Miner in a nearby encampment. The program, whose name stands for Homeless Outreach Prevention and Education, was formed in 2019 as a partnership involving police, fire and MHMR of Tarrant County. Officials said the team helps connect unhoused residents with services and reduce strain on emergency responders. In Miner’s case, the team helped him access healthcare and connected him with Operation Texas Strong, the nonprofit led by Bobby and Peggy Crutsinger that places donated RVs with homeless veterans.

Operation Texas Strong provided Miner with an RV valued at $11,000, and the trailer was delivered to Lake Worth RV Ranch in Tarrant County with donated food and supplies. Miner said the RV felt like a castle, and a GoFundMe was created to help cover the RV and his medical expenses. Fort Worth officials said the HOPE Team has identified 528 homeless camps in the city, with an estimated total population of more than 5,000, underscoring how one firefighter’s decision to take in a dog exposed a much larger failure in housing, veteran care and pet-friendly shelter options.