In May 2016, Lakeland, Florida, Officer Kareem Garibaldi found a small puppy running loose and stayed with her until she was safe. After he tried to find her family and took her to SPCA Florida for care, a police dispatcher adopted her later that day and named her Hope, according to a 2022 account by iHeartDogs.
How Officer Garibaldi found the puppy
iHeartDogs reported that Garibaldi was working an early-morning shift in Lakeland in May 2016 when he nearly hit a puppy running loose. The account described her as an 8-to-10-week-old Pit/Boxer mix with no collar or identification tags. It did not establish who had owned her or why she was loose.
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Garibaldi looked around the neighborhood and posted pictures on social media in an effort to find her family, but the article says those efforts did not locate anyone.
Why he stayed with her after his shift
Garibaldi brought the puppy to the Lakeland Police Department, where she could have food and warmth while he finished work. The account says this was the end of his third consecutive day working 12-hour shifts. Rather than leave her without care, he took her to the SPCA Florida Medical Center afterward for an examination.
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Connie Johnson, SPCA Florida’s safety net manager, saw them at the clinic and photographed them while the puppy was being checked. In a statement reproduced by iHeartDogs, Johnson praised Garibaldi for going out of his way after working all night to make sure the puppy was safe.
Johnson also described his concern: “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.” This is Johnson’s account as carried by iHeartDogs; the article does not provide a clinic record or a diagnosis for the puppy.
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What happened to the puppy?
According to iHeartDogs, a Lakeland Police Department dispatcher adopted the puppy later that day and named her Hope. The 2022 retelling does not include a later update, so it does not establish Hope’s current status.
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What the story does—and does not—establish
The report documents a rescue effort: a loose, unidentified puppy was brought to safety, taken for examination, and reportedly adopted. Although the original headline calls her “neglected,” the narrative does not establish abuse, medical neglect, a previous owner, or why she had been running loose. Its details about the puppy’s age and Garibaldi’s work shifts describe this specific case, not broader statistics about strays or police work.
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