In Houston, Texas, elementary school teacher Caleb Schaeffer came to work as usual in the morning and suddenly saw a skinny black dog outside the school door.
The dog was sitting on the mat right in front of the door, looking at people and wagging his tail hopefully as someone entered or exited the building.
Schaeffer walked past the dog and started getting ready for class, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the shivering cold and probably hungry dog. He decided to go back to the door, but the stray trapping service had already arrived, apparently someone in the school administration had called it in.
Schaeffer didn’t know if they had caught this dog or not, as it was nowhere to be seen. So he went back to his classroom. But the next morning, when he came to work, he saw the same dog at the school door again.
And this time the dog cheered the man, obviously recognizing him, and wagged its tail even more.
«He was obviously happy to see me. And when I got close to him, I immediately saw what a bad condition he was in. He was covered with sores from a skin disease and it must have caused him a lot of suffering. He was constantly whining and fidgeting.»
But Schaeffer didn’t have time to help the dog this time, either. When he went out after school to check on him, the dog was gone. But guess who was waiting for him at the school door again the next morning? The same dog again!
«This time he had already just run up to me, greeting me, and then I decided to act quickly. I went back to my car in the parking lot and called the dog to me, baiting him with my lunch. When he approached, I just picked him up and put him on the seat.»
Schaeffer didn’t have much time before school started, so he just took the dog to his house and left it there in the care of his wife, asking her to feed the dog.
After work, Schaeffer returned to his house and began calling various shelters to take the dog to them. He couldn’t keep the dog, whom he named Clive, in his apartment for long because he already had one dog living with him and the landlord forbade keeping two dogs.
But for some reason none of the shelters agreed to take the dog, so Schaeffer took Clive to a veterinarian to have him examined and treated.
Later, Schaeffer set up a page on GoFundMe to raise money to pay for medical care. He only needed to raise $1,500 and he raised $1,600, which meant that Clive’s treatment was paid for in full and even had some left over for a few packs of food.
But then the question arose again as to where Clive would live. Schaeffer managed to place him in a county shelter, but they were putting animals to sleep that couldn’t find owners in a timely manner, and Clive was nearing the end of that period.
Finally Schaeffer and Clive got really fortunate. Lucky Lab Rescue, a private shelter in Austin, was interested in the dog. Schaeffer was overjoyed, especially since the shelter had moved Clive from Houston to their town at their own expense.
In Austin, a couple of volunteers took the dog in for a while. Under their care, the dog quickly recovered. According to Stephanie Brighton, Clive is a very special dog who loves people and needs their company very much.
Caleb Schaeffer, meanwhile, says Clive will be in his heart for a long time. He tells the dog’s difficult story to his students and hopes it will teach them about kindness and caring for animals.
