I hate to think of all the homeless animals out on the street, especially at this time of year when it’s cold and gets dark early.
On a cold and rainy December day in a small town in Santa Catarina, Brazil, families were taking in the pretty Christmas decorations and stopped to admire the nativity scene.
On a closer inspection they realized something didn’t quite look right with the picture.
Through the pretty red poinsettia plants their eyes fell on baby Jesus in his manger and saw that he wasn’t alone.
Posted by Kiko Della Giustina on Monday, December 5, 2011
Local resident Kiko Della Giustina was among a crowd of locals in the town of Criciúma who saw a dog curled up next to baby Jesus, enjoying the warmth of his crib.
The residents did their best not to disturb the homeless dog; they didn’t try and chase him away. They showed true compassion to this needy animal.
Kiko had to take photos of the sweet scene and posted them online. For the last decade these photos always appear around this time of year as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.
Posted by Kiko Della Giustina on Monday, December 5, 2011
The following year in December 2009, blogger Ana Corina shared an email she received from Kiko Della Giustina, who shared the story behind the photo.
According to Ana, the pup seeking warmth next to baby Jesus was a stray familiar to local shopkeepers in the area.
‘Cold, rainy day’
“I had the great honor and happiness of having clicked the pictures of the scene of this beautiful and abandoned dog in the manger,” Kiko said in his email. “I’ll never forget, it was a cold, rainy day.”
Giustina said seeing the dog made him emotional as he knew he couldn’t offer him a home adding: “Unfortunately, I just did not take him home because I live in an apartment and I already have two street adoptees.”
Good news came soon after when he learned this gorgeous German Shepherd had been adopted!
Please share with friends and family if you think this story shows the true meaning of Christmas.
