Malnourished Dog Wanders Into His New Forever Home In Philly

PHILADELPHIA — This time of year, we hear lots of talk about holiday miracles, mostly from cheesy TV movies. But in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood, a true holiday miracle occurred when a stray, malnourished dog found her forever home.

Jack Jokinen and his family in Fishtown got a new addition to their family, already boasting a 1-month-old baby and another dog, when a stray dog was able to walk into their home over the weekend.

Jokinen said on Twitter his wife woke him up overnight Friday into Saturday to tell him there was a dog in their house.

After Jokinen looked at security camera footage from outside their home, he saw a skinny and limping dog walk up their stoop and into their front door.

He said being a busy new father, he likely didn't pull their door closed all the way and strong winds blew the door open.

That's when the dog, now named Suzy, walked by and saw a place to get warm.

Now, leaving a door wide open in any city is never safe so the story could have ended much differently. But a passerby saw the door was open and took action.

"With all the terrible things that could happen in that situation," Jokinen said on Twitter of the open door, "a guy walks by and actually yelled to make sure everything was ok and pulled the front door to our house closed. Thank you to him."

Multiple news outlets report that good Samaritan was Steven Griendling.

The Jokinens took Suzy to the vet in the morning to get her checked out and tested for a microchip, but she was not chipped.

That's when they decided that Suzy, who is 9 years old, would live with them.

Jokinen said anyone who feels compelled to help Suzy in her recovery as she undergoes treatment for her various injuries and conditions can contribute via Jokinen’s Venmo account and PayPal account.

"If you donate and we get more money than we need, we're going to find a worthy cause, we're going to make that donation, we're going to turn this negative into a positive for the holiday season."