Back in August of 2020, Fernando and his brother Felipe were preparing to get on the subway in São Paulo, Brazil. Felipe went up to the window to purchase the tickets when he came across a stray dog.

“He saw a dog shivering in the cold,” Gabriel told The Dodo. “It was the coldest day of the year.”

But he wasn’t sure what to think when he saw his brother start to take off his coat and then his shirt. So he got out his phone and started recording the moment.

At first, Fernando giggled – why on Earth was his brother shirtless in line for a subway ticket?! Stripping down in public certainly calls for one’s brother to start recording.

It turns out he was going to give the cold, stray dog the shirt right off his back.

“I noticed my brother taking his backpack off his back and started filming,” he said. “He continued. He took off his jacket, sweatshirt and put his shirt on the puppy who was very cold. He did it spontaneously. It was very moving.”

No one likes to see an animal suffer, but how many of us would stop and give up an item of clothing?

The video immediately went viral and when Felipe himself posted it to Instagram, he said the shirt had been one of his favorites, but that it “looks better” on the dog.

As they went on their way, thoughts of the dog clearly stuck in their head that day. So when they returned to the station later on, they looked for the poor stray pooch.

Unfortunately, the dog had moved on to another location. The men had intended to take it him with them.

While Felipe went the extra mile for the cold canine, he said he just wished he had been able to do more. But he does hope his video inspires other to help the strays they come across.

“There is no way to change the world — but for the things in your reach, you can,” he said.

Many commenters were charmed by the video.

“This is humanity at it’s finest! Thank you! I wish there were more people like you. God Bless you.”

Of course, there will always be those who can take any good deed and twist it into something to be criticized:

“NEVER DRESS UP STRAY ANIMALS! Sorry but this is a actually a horrible dangerous thing to do to a stray dog, no animal should be left unattended wearing random things that can get it trapped, drowned, asphyxiated. This can result to death in so many ways and in cold rainy weather the fabric will get wet and frozen and give the dog hypothermia, so ffs he did not save the dog from the cold, he just ruined its natural process of staying dry.”

While we understand the possibility that the dog could trip on the garment, we’re not sure it constitutes a “horrible” thing to do. And since the dog is in the station and unlikely to go out into the cold snow from there, it’s unlikely the fabric will get wet.

So perhaps from now on, “experts” can make their commentary a bit less rude so that people don’t roll their eyes and scroll past.

Be sure to scroll down to see a repost of the original viral video – it truly is sweet.