Three years ago, Jared noticed a dog chained up outside in the boiling Phoenix heat. As time passed, Jared would walk by the yard only to find the dog still chained up, never interacting with anyone. The dog would bark and snarl, and scare Jared off.

But one day, Jared decided to do something different. In the video below, watch as Jared sat by the fence and waited to see the dog’s reaction. He told the dog everything would be okay. In just a few minutes, the hesitant dog had crawled out from under the stairs and over toward the kind man, welcoming the comfort of his touch. Jared started to visit the dog every day until he couldn’t bear it anymore.

One day, while petting him through the fence, the owner came outside. In a stunning confrontation, Jared insisted the dog needed medical attention. The owner laughed at him, insisted the dog was aggressive and told Jared the dog had been chained up for 10-15 years. An entire lifetime of neglect and cruelty.

“I told her I wasn’t leaving without the dog. I couldn’t adopt him myself, but I just knew that I couldn’t leave him. After a few minutes, she agreed to hand him over. She said that the dog would bite me if I went near him, and didn’t want to give him to me. But I insisted that it would be fine, and finally, she handed him over.” Watch the video below to find out what happens it next. I won’t give it away, because it’s simply too incredible.