A dog left at a Fort Worth fire station has turned into a temporary homecoming story.

Fire Station 8 in Fort Worth, Texas, is what is called a “safe baby site,” a place where desperate parents can leave a baby they are unable to care for. Earlier this month, a dog named Jake was left at the base of the station’s flagpole with a note that read, “His name is Jake…If you really care about helping babies, please help my baby.”

“You could tell he’s been loved,” Fort Worth Fire Capt. Jason Bryant told CBS News. “Super healthy, super strong. You can tell he hadn’t missed a meal.”

Jake had been living with a homeless man named Tom Miner. Miner became homeless a couple years ago after his landlord told him he couldn’t keep his dog. He said he finally gave up Jake because he believed the dog deserved a better life.

“I live with that every day,” Miner said. “…It is, hands down, the hardest decision I ever made.”

Miner said he ran from the fire station after dropping Jake off because he “couldn’t look back.”

The crew at the fire station decided to keep Jake. The Fort Worth Fire Department also convinced a local business to donate a camper to Miner.

“This is my home,” Miner said of the camper. “And there ain’t no place like home.”

The fire department also provided supplies and arranged for him to see a dentist, doing everything it could to make sure Miner gets back on his feet.

When that day comes, the firefighters plan to return Jake to him.

“One day he’s coming home,” Miner said.

The fire department said the situation was a one-time exception because it cannot have the public dropping off dogs at its fire stations.

“If we can hand Jake back over to Tom, I think that’s the happy ending everybody wants,” Bryant said. “…I think there’ll be 30 grown men bawling.”

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