Kareem Garibaldi is a police officer who recently did not let three consecutive 12-hour shifts get in the way of him doing something huge for someone in need.

As a member of the Florida’s Lakeland Police Department, Kareem spends his days protecting and serving his community, which includes more than just people!

Kareem was out on patrol a few months ago when he came upon a stray dog, which was a small pit bull-Boxer mix. Realizing that the dog had been abandoned and had nowhere to go, Kareem picked her up and took her back to the station with him. First, he brought her to the local SPCA to see if she needed medical attention.

Though this was Kareem’s third 12 hour shift in a row, he knew that he would not be able to sleep until he knew that the puppy would be alright. When the shelter’s safety manager, Connie Johnson, came into work the next morning, here is what she saw:

“He was exhausted, the puppy was exhausted, and they were sleeping. It was one of those moments that just grab your heart. He was so determined to get her help,” Connie recalled. “It clearly was a selfless thing to do. He wasn’t thinking about getting home to sleep. He was thinking about what he could do to help this puppy survive. He actually woke up at one point just to see if she was OK, then he went back to sleep.”

The dog, who has since been named Hope, was found to be perfectly healthy aside from a small mites issue! Kareem then brought her to the police station, where one of the dispatchers immediately fell in love with her and adopted her right away! Weeks later, the dispatcher reported that Hope has been adapting well to her new life and has even learned some basic commands.

When Congressman Dennis A. Ross heard what Kareem had done for Hope, he decided to personally present him with the Hometown Hero Award at the SPCA’s annual meeting the following month!

“I’m a dog owner myself and just seeing that puppy out there kind of broke my heart … It was just one of those things, I wanted to just give it a fighting chance…” Ross said. “With everything that’s going on around the world, just do one small little thing just to try to make it better. Just make a difference one day at a time.”

We applaud this officer for going above and beyond to help a dog in need! Find out more about this in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!