Lock your doors and windows. Check your closets and under the beds. You never know what danger could creep into your home during the wee hours of the night, so you certainly wouldn’t want to invite a perpetrator in by making your pad an easy target. Though some intruders might be more welcome than other.
Jack Jokinen of Philadelphia bolted awake one night when his wife alerted him of the terror no homeowner wants to face. When he summoned the courage to check out the home invader, however, he was left with more questions than answers.
When 34-year-old Jack Jokinen woke up in a sweat to find his darling wife standing over his bedside at 4:00 AM, you can only imagine the kind of panic that washed over him. He went from dead asleep to panicking about an intruder.
Paranormal Activity
Thankfully, she assured him that both her and the baby were fine, there was no need to hide. But something peculiar had happened. She’d gone to check on the source of the noise she’d heard in the middle of the night and discovered something odd.
She was confused, understandably, about the mysterious dog sitting in the middle of their living room. All the windows and doors were shut tight. How had a random dog wandered into their house?
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Even stranger, the golden pup was wet, shaking, gaunt and quite scared of her unfamiliar surroundings. It was a sad sight; and while the Jokinens immediately rushed to help the frightened creature, they were worried that a person broke in with the pooch.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Everything was locked, and the closets were free of serial killers, so the couple promptly reached for their security footage. The Jokinens were to get to the bottom of this mystery. Who was this little dog? And where did she come from?
Storyblocks
Well, the footage showed that, at exactly 3:15 AM, the lonely mutt hobbled into their home through the front door… because it was left wide open (nice job, Jack). She hesitated initially, but eventually saw the open door.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Twenty-five minutes later, a kind stranger out for a walk took notice of the open door and the vulnerable situation, which motivated him to shout into the house, asking if anyone needed help. When he heard nothing, he shut the door, locking the mystery dog inside.
After watching the footage, Jack hilariously Tweeted “Some guy walked by and just closed our door without murdering us or stealing anything. Shout out to him.” As the couple stared at the enigmatic dog in front of them at nearly 5:00 AM, they decided to make a plan.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
“I just start Googling, ‘What do you do when you find a dog?’ because there’s really no playbook for this. And surprisingly, we’ve never found a dog in our house before,” Jack explained to The Washington Post.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
When the pooch shot them sparkly puppy dog eyes (literally), the Jokinens didn’t have the heart to call animal control. Instead, they took her to an emergency vet for a $72 checkup. The vet uncovered a lot.
@emjjokinen / Instagram
The poor furry thing had ticks and fleas, damaged teeth, infected paws, an atrophied leg, and no microchip. They decided the dog, who was between 7 and 9 years old, would soon be a fellow Jokinen.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Since Jack, who hosts a podcast about the New York Yankees, live-tweeted his journey with the pooch right from the first moment him and his wife found her in the living room, Yankees sportscaster Suzyn Waldman emailed him about how adorable she found the story.
Joseph D. Sullivan
That was when Jack and Emily knew they had to name the sweet mongrel Suzyn Pupman (Suzy for short), y’know, after Suzyn Waldman. But Waldman wasn’t the only one who followed the Jokinens’ and Suzy’s journey, as Jack’s 35,000 Twitter followers, too, watched it all pan out.
@suzynpupman / Instagram
Soon enough, the heartwarming tail spread all over the internet, which led generous internet users to offer up donations to support Suzy’s laundry list of medical needs. Little Suzy clearly had support and love both near and far.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Jack happily collected the donations via Venmo and Paypal, but not without posting a public spreadsheet to showcase where the donated money was going. He raised more than $25,000, disclosing that the remainder of the money would go to a “yet-to-be-determined charity.”
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
But the story only got sweeter when a neighborhood Facebook group connected Jack and the friendly man who closed his front door that eventful night. Jack was delighted to take his kind neighbor out for a thank you dinner at a local steakhouse.
Hello Neighbor
Meanwhile, Suzy became an Instagram superstar, garnering more than 31,000 followers, and was even featured on the cover of the Philadelphia Daily News! Perhaps next she’ll land a Playboy centerfold deal.
Jack Jokinen / Facebook
“Of all the bad things that could happen when your front door is left open, to end up with a sweet dog who just needs a good home?I mean, wow, this could have gone a lot worse,” Jack said in a video he posted online.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Suzy and her new family (which includes another dog, named Jorge Pawsada) were featured on 6 ABC, FOX 29, and CBS Philly, as the world became captivated by their beautiful story of fate. It’s nice to be able to turn on the news and see an uplifting story.
@JJFromTheBronx / Twitter
Out of all of the monstrosities that could’ve come from an open front door in the middle of the night, the Jokinens got lucky, as they gained a new family member. They only hoped their lives together would turn out like a story they’d heard in the news.
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