Photo Credit: Vets4Pets Charitable Clinic
A Florida police officer is being praised for helping a homeless man who needed money to take his dog to the vet.
According to Fox 10, the man was panhandling in downtown Tampa last Thursday to raise enough money for veterinary care for his dog, Karma, according to Vets4Pets, a charitable animal hospital.
Tampa Officer Bart Wester saw the man standing alongside his dog and decided to go beyond the call of duty.
“Instead of arresting the homeless man, Officer Wester put he and Karma in his police car and drove them to Vets4Pets. He then paid the entire veterinary bill,” the animal hospital posted on Facebook.
Vets4Pets applauded the officer’s generosity and dedication to serving his community.
Major Travis Yates founded the Courageous Leadership Institute that teaches and consults with law enforcement on leadership issues. He told us that the act displayed by Officer Wester is not the exception but the norm for law enforcement today.
“While the media and politicians continue to attack law enforcement, we have seen a continued pattern of law enforcement doing these acts of kindness across the country. The vast majority are never seen and these acts have a long lasting impact on those that we help.”
Yates calls these compassionate acts of kindness and revolution in the profession of “seeing people as people rather than problems.”
“It’s a fantastic time in our history where these men and women are rising to greatness despite some of the hatred that surrounds them,” Yates said.
