A small dog in a monk's robe sits beside a person also dressed as a monk near a pond. 0:55
Inside Edition channel icon Inside EditionOriginal creator 51K views Save

How a stray dog ended up in a friar's robe

Carmelo wandered into a monastery in Bolivia as a stray. The monks kept him, and then they gave him a robe of his own. more

He trots down a stone path between green bushes in a dark little coat, like a dog with somewhere to be. The coat isn't a sweater.

A small dog in a dark coat walks along a stone path beside green bushes. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Carmelo, once a stray, trots along a stone path at the monastery in his dark coat.

It's a friar's robe, cut to fit a dog, and he has gotten used to wearing it. The robe came with a title, too. Carmelo is an honorary friar, and his formal nickname is Friar Bigoton, which means mustache. In one picture he sits by a pond next to a monk, the two of them dressed alike, one much closer to the ground.

A small dog in a monk's robe sits beside a person also dressed as a monk near a pond. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Carmelo wandered into a monastery in Bolivia as a stray.

This is a Franciscan monastery, and the order teaches the ways of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. The friars say they took Carmelo in to set an example. They hope other monasteries will adopt animals, and that the people who come to their church will open their homes to animals in need.

Carmelo is that example with a mustache, and his new brothers are said to love him. A friar in glasses and a brown robe holds him beside the water, smiling like a man showing off the newest member of the order. The monks shared their pictures of him, and plenty of people fell for the little friar.

A smiling person in glasses and a brown robe holds a small dog near water and green plants. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A friar in glasses holds Carmelo by the water, all smiles.

Not every moment is so formal. He's said to love running around his new home and preaching to the fish. In one picture he is soaking wet, his fur in clumps, his head resting in a lap at the water's edge while fish swim by. It may be the least saintly shot of the bunch, and it might be the best.

A wet dog with matted fur rests his head on a person's lap beside water with fish swimming in it. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The little friar who preaches to the fish rests his wet head in a lap by the water.

Miniature schnauzer owners saw their own dogs in him, and one decided he must be a distant cousin of the family schnauzer. Others had a simpler reaction. One said they would go to church if theirs had a pup in the clergy.

#adoption