A man who has been homeless for around 40 years has been hailed a local hero by his community, and for good reason. Keith Walker from Atlanta, who is now 53-year old, ran into a burning animal shelter and rescued at least 16 animals from the home in late 2020.
On the afternoon of December 18, Walker was on his way to W-Underdogs animal shelter to pick up his pet pitbull Bravo, when he saw that that it was on fire. Without hesitation, Walker rushed inside and managed to get all the shelter animals out, which included six dogs including Bravo, and 10 cats.
Gracie Hamlin, who happens to be the shelter’s owner, told CNN that when firefighters arrived on the scene, they ‘called animal control, but Keith was already in the building pulling out the cats and dogs until they were all safe.’
Hamlin explained to CNN that although the fire department was there, they didn’t want to ‘deal with the animals’ that happened to be stuck inside the burning shelter. Thankfully, Walker found the courage to rush inside to save them himself.
Hamlin shared, “He [Walker] is my guardian angel. Even the firefighters didn’t want to handle the dogs. They called animal control, but Keith was already in the building pulling out the cats and dogs until they were all safe.”
She added, “I can’t thank him enough for saving my animals. I’m still in disbelief, because I’ve been around a fire and I know how fast they flare up. He is my hero.” Walker, who’s been homeless since he was 13-years old, and Hamlin have been friends for quite some time and she’s been allowing Walker to leave his dog at the shelter every night.
Although Walker has been hailed a hero by many, he admits that he was still scared to go inside the burning shelter but he just couldn’t just leave the animals helpless in the fire, especially since his own dog happened to be inside as well.
He admitted, “I was nervous as hell, I’m not going to lie. I was really scared to go in there with all that smoke. But God put me there to save those animals. If you love a dog, you can love anyone in the world. My dog is my best friend, and I wouldn’t be here without him, so I knew I had to save all those other dogs.”
Hamlin, who happens to be an Army veteran, had explained in a Facebook post that she had been out that day of the incident, picking up supply donations when she got a distress call telling her that the shelter was on fire. Unfortunately, the shelter is also where she lives.
Although the fire department eventually managed to put out the fire, it still left the home ‘uninhabitable.’ They discovered that the cause was an electrical fire. Thankfully, the shelter was already in the process of moving to a new location, which meant that the animals weren’t left homeless after being rescued.
As Hamlin explained in her post, ‘While the new facility is not exactly “move-in ready” we were able to move the animals safely into the new facility for the night. They are all happy, warm, safe and comfortable in their new temporary home.’
Since the rescue, the story of Walker and how he managed to save the shelter animals has gone viral. This moved a number of people to ask what they could do to help Walker, even starting up a GoFundMe page in his name with an initial goal of $5000. Since then, donations have been pouring in, and so far the page has managed to raise over $90,000.
Although Walker has been leaving Bravo at the shelter for over a year, and they assist by giving his dog free food and medical care, Walker wasn’t looking for a hand out the way that most people might assume considering he’s been homeless for so long.
A number of people began commenting on Facebook, saying that Walker should also be allowed to remain at the shelter to sleep with his dog. But Hamlin explained that the shelter ‘is not as convenient as where Keith prefers to stay.’ Because it’s a commercial space, it isn’t zoned as a place for people to live.
Hamlin explained, “We are in contact with Keith and working to assess his needs and wants. He is not currently accepting offers of help but we will continue to stay in touch with him and share as much as he will allow. We will also continue to provide food and medical care of his dog, Bravo. We have made many offers to Keith over the years and he prefers to live his life of his own free will and we respect that and will continue to work with him on options.”
She went on to say, “While we are certainly appreciative of the outpouring of recognition for his selfless deed, it is also important to respect his perspective on what he may feel he does or does not want in terms of help. This is the same credo we follow with all of the members in our community in which we serve, as we continue to work hard to build and maintain the bond of trust between us.”
What’s incredible as well is that W-Underdogs isn’t just an animal shelter. It also runs as a youth organization for children from the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Atlanta, and it’s only run by two people. Kids are encouraged to help rescue, rehabilitate and re-home hundreds of animals every year. The organization also helps support families in need by giving food, basic medical care and shelter to their animals during the times that they can’t.
W-Underdog’s motto is ‘your friendly neighborhood superheroes,’ something that Walker himself has proven to do on his very own. Hamlin wrote, ‘Keith embodied the spirit of W-Underdogs when he saved our animals in their time of need. We value the relationship we have built with him the past year while helping him to care for his dog, and we will continue to work with Keith according to what his wishes are.’
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