'It Was Destiny': Garbage Truck Crew Saves Dog From Trash Can, Then Adopts Him

June 10, 2026

A starving dog buried beneath a pile of trash was just moments away from a tragic fate.

Instead, a remarkable chain of events led him to the perfect home.

Alex Halverson / Naz Nalls (left) / TMJ4 News

City of Milwaukee sanitation workers Naz Nalls and his partner Omar were making their usual rounds in April when something highly unusual happened. One of the garbage bins they were emptying unexpectedly slipped off the truck before its contents could be dumped and crushed.

That small malfunction turned out to be a lifesaver.

"Usually, it don't fall off. That's what's crazy about this. I feel like it was kind of destiny," Nalls said.

When the bin hit the ground, the workers looked inside and were stunned to find a dog.

The animal was severely underweight and clearly in rough shape, but despite everything he had endured, he was friendly and eager to be around people.

Following procedure, the crew contacted their supervisor, Alex Halverson, who happened to already be on his way to check on that particular team.

The connection between Halverson and the dog was immediate.

"The first time I pulled him out of the garbage can, he did this. He let me pick him up," Halverson recalled.

Seeing how hungry the dog was, Halverson handed over the two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches he had packed for lunch.

"He didn't even chew. He just inhaled," he said.

While sanitation crews unfortunately encounter animals in garbage bins more often than most people realize, Halverson knew this dog deserved a chance. He contacted Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission and personally drove the dog there rather than waiting for someone else to pick him up.

After receiving care, the dog was placed in foster care through standard shelter procedures. But there was one important detail. Halverson was given the first opportunity to adopt him.

As fate would have it, he had already been thinking about getting a second dog.

He officially adopted the dog and named him PJ, a tribute to the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that helped him through one of the hardest days of his life.

"God knows what he went through. And the fact that obviously he was in a garbage can, purposefully discarded. He was buried under garbage, and the fact that he was still super friendly."

What began as a routine trash pickup became a rescue story that nobody involved will ever forget. A dog abandoned in a garbage bin was saved because of one unlikely accident, found by workers who cared enough to stop, and ultimately adopted by the very supervisor who helped rescue him.

Sometimes the smallest twist of fate can change a life forever.