The pit bull who won over an entire fire station — and much of the internet — is getting his own picture book. The City of Fort Worth announced this week that the story of Jake, the dog left tied to Fire Station 8's flagpole with a handwritten plea for help, is being turned into a children's book by Whistleslick Press.
According to a post from the City of Fort Worth, the mother-and-daughter team behind Whistleslick Press reached out after seeing Jake and his owner Tom Miner's story on the news, and the small press has since worked with the Fort Worth Fire Department on the project. The book will center Jake as its lead character, and Whistleslick Press says it plans to share more updates as the project develops, with book announcements posted to its own social media accounts.
🎉📖🚒🐾 EXCITING UPDATE 🎉📖🚒🐾
— Fort Worth Fire Department (@FortWorthFire) September 4, 2026
The story that captured the hearts of the nation and introduced us to a dog named “Jake” is now a children’s book!
We worked with Whistleslick Press (a mother/ daughter team) who, after seeing the story of Jake & Tom on the news, reached out to… pic.twitter.com/aNetH39mjk
The publisher says a portion of proceeds from the book will be donated to animal causes and to people in need, tying the project's mission back to the real-life circumstances that first put Jake in front of Fort Worth firefighters. The book's message, per the Fort Worth post, is a simple one: one dog can change many people's lives if given a second chance.
How Jake Ended Up Tied to a Fort Worth Flagpole
Jake's story began on May 16, when firefighters at Station 8 discovered the seven-year-old pit bull tied to the station's flagpole, according to WFAA. Tied alongside him was a water bottle holding a three-page handwritten letter asking the crew for help. The station's report identifies the dog's owner as Tom Miner, a 65-year-old disabled U.S. Army veteran who had spent 20 months living in a hidden homeless camp after a property manager refused to renew his apartment lease because Jake is a pit bull.
In the letter, Miner wrote that despite having been married five times and having served four prison sentences, giving up Jake was the hardest decision he had ever made, according to a Facebook video report from journalist Dawn White. The letter reportedly urged the firefighters to look after his “baby.” Miner appears to have left Jake at the station under the belief that firehouses serve as safe surrender points, echoing the logic behind Texas's Safe Haven Law — commonly known as the Baby Moses Law — which since 1999 has allowed parents to anonymously surrender unharmed newborns at fire stations, EMS facilities, or hospitals, per The Texas Tribune. That law applies to infants, not pets, but the same Safe Place signage appears to have inspired Miner's decision.
Firefighters Adopt Jake After Foster Efforts Fail
The Fort Worth Fire Department does not normally accept surrendered animals, but after community foster efforts for Jake fell through, all three shift crews at Station 8 voted unanimously to adopt him as the firehouse's official dog, WFAA reports. Firefighters set Jake up with a bed, a recliner, and medical care in the truck room, effectively making him a full-time member of the crew.
Discovery of the letter also set off a separate response for Miner himself. The fire department's Homeless Outreach Program and Enforcement Team, known as HOPE, tracked him down at an unmapped encampment beneath a railroad trestle to provide medical and dental care, according to a separate WFAA report. The same report notes that as of May, the HOPE Team had mapped 528 homeless encampments across Fort Worth, serving an estimated unhoused population of roughly 5,000 people — and that Miner's trestle camp had not previously been on outreach workers' radar.
Community Support Built Miner a New Home
In the weeks that followed, community support for Miner grew quickly. Veteran nonprofit Operation Texas Strong partnered with Bennett's Camping Center in Granbury in late May to donate a 2012 RV camper and secure him a plot at a Lake Worth RV ranch, according to FireRescue1. Bennett's donated the camper outright after an earlier unit needed costly repairs.
A community GoFundMe organized for Miner also raised more than $11,000 to help cover his ongoing medical care, utility expenses, and living costs, the outlet reported, with funds going toward equipping his new camper with propane and electricity. By late May, CBS News reported that Fire Station 8's leadership still considered Jake an active member of the firehouse family — but said the department's ultimate goal remains reuniting the dog with Miner once he is fully re-established, something station captains described as the true happy ending to the story.
Now that story is heading to bookshelves. Whistleslick Press has not yet detailed a publication timeline, but the Fort Worth Fire Department says updates will be shared as the children's book comes together, giving Jake — and Miner — a continuing chapter well beyond the flagpole where their story began.
