Sometimes animals come into our lives for a reason. When a firefighter rescued a stray dog recently, he knew it was meant to be — and gave the sweet dog a new home.

According to a post from the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter, a firefighter named Mark Wojnar from Buffalo’s Ladder 2 helped rescue a dog who was found running up near an expressway entrance.

Together with a good samaritan, Wojnar stopped traffic and “tackled” the dog to bring him to safety. Wojnar then brought the dog to the animal shelter.

CBAS wrote that the dog was in “rough shape,” with very dirty, matted fur that “showed us he’d for sure been through a rough patch.”

But soon, the dog’s life turned around for the better after he got a visit from a familiar face: Wojnar stopped at the shelter and adopted the dog!

“As if saving this dog wasn’t enough!” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “We’re so thankful for his quick thinking and to his mother for opening her home to this lucky dog.”

The dog will now live in the care of Wojnar’s mother. He later commented on the post, saying that the dog, now named Bentley, is “doing well and settling quick into his new home.”

He thanked the staff and volunteers at the shelter, calling them the “true heroes,” and also thanked the animal control officer who helped him chase the dog down.

Wojnar also wrote that Bentley has a “big brother” named Brody, who he also rescued off the streets in 2015.

Thank you for rescuing this dog, twice! We’re so glad Bentley has a great new home — it was clearly meant to be