Stray dogs are a problem all over the world, but Brazil faces some special issues.

First, there are the sheer number of strays. In fact, there are more dogs than children in Brazil. And to top it off, they’re destructive predators, especially when they form packs. They even have their own little city in Caxias do Sul to keep them contained.

This leaves people of two minds about the creatures. In theory, most people love dogs. But in reality, they’re happy to ignore strays and neglect to spay or neuter their pets to prevent more.

Father João Paulo Araujo Gomes – head of the parish of Santana in Gravatá, Brazil – is getting people in his parish to think more about stray dogs. In fact, he’s putting them front and center during Mass at Paróquia de Sant’Ana Gravatá!

That’s right – when you attend Mass at this church, you might go home with a new dog.

Fr. Gomes invites street dogs to become part of his service in the hopes of convincing parishioners to adopt if they can. Even the rowdy ones.

He also houses strays in his rectory to keep them off the streets.

“They will always be able to enter, sleep, eat, drink their water and find shelter and protection, for this house is of God and they are of God,” the priest wrote on Facebook.

Of course, that doesn’t always mean the dogs act adoptable. They are street dogs, after all. So they can be disruptive. But with the amount of love and patience Gomes has for the animals, people get a chance to see how rewarding it can be to care for an animal.

And when this church takes dogs in, they give them access to everything they need, including the opportunity to be socialized so they can become pets. It’s just the church’s way of living what you preach – we’re all God’s creatures and deserve love and respect.

Street life is cruel for dogs all over the world. They’re exposed to extreme temperatures, violence from people and other animals, and they have no reliable source of food or access to medical care. Some have been abused by humans in the past.

Dozens of dogs have already been adopted from the church and Fr. Gomes has even taken some home himself, dog-lover that he is.

“I helped several dogs with serious health problems. Some of them I brought to the parish house and they were later adopted. Three of them stayed with me. Today, they are my children and sleep in my bed,” he told Bored Panda.

It appears the animals feel pretty comfortable at church. But they don’t even need to cross the threshold to be cared for.

Gomes and church volunteers have put feeders and fresh water outside for any stray to partake in.

Despite all the effort, Gomes knows there’s more to be done.

He told The Dodo:

“What I do is just a drop of water in the face of the magnitude of the problem. I wish I could welcome all the animals, but we work with many limitations. Everything I do depends on volunteers and volunteers who help me, so it’s not my merits but those people’s, too.”

Fr. Gomes isn’t the only one working to make life better for street dogs in Brazil. Be sure to scroll down below to see video from one of the country’s dog sanctuaries.

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Source: Washington Post, Bored Panda, The Dodo