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Whatsapp Jo Jarvis recently moved to New York and has ended up dog sitting for a complete stranger.

What do you do when a complete stranger approaches you on the streets of a big city and tries to sell you something? When it happened to Jo Jarvis this week, she stopped to listen.

Australian expat Jo Jarvis was on her way to dinner, about to get in a cab, when she first met Jose. Jarvis hadn't been living in New York City for long, but wasn't surprised to be approached on the street by a stranger. She was surprised by what he offered to sell her, though.

'I was walking along the street with my friend from Sydney and we were about to get in a cab. A guy came up ... he had on a big coat. And he opened the coat and he said: "Do you want to buy my dog?"'

I can hear all my friends and my mother rolling their eyes but I felt like he seemed like a nice person.

The dog, a terrier Jarvis later discovered was named Tiny, was adorable. Jarvis says she immediately thought the worst. Was this man running a puppy farm operation? Had he stolen the animal? No, Jose said, he owned her. But he was going to jail in two days' time and had to find her a home while he was inside.

'I had visions of the dog being dumped or being taken to a place where she was going to be put down, and I just didn't want that to happen,' Jarvis says.

'I didn't really want the dog, though. I've just moved to New York. I don't want a dog.'

In the end, she gave Jose her telephone number, telling him to call her the next day if he couldn't find anyone else to take his pet. She was relieved when the morning passed and he hadn't called. But then, at two in the afternoon, the phone rang.

'He called and said, "I've still got the dog." I said, "I'm not buying that dog from you. If you want me to have that dog, I'm having it for free." I wanted to find out how genuine he was.'

She also insisted that he come to her house.

'He got on the train—it was probably a 20-minute trip. He made the effort to come here. He came to my building and I led him upstairs. The next minute this guy, who's going to prison in two days' time, is standing in my kitchen,' she says.

'At that point I thought, "I wonder if this is very smart." I hadn't really thought it through. But there was something about him that I really liked. I can hear all my friends and my mother rolling their eyes but I felt like he seemed like a nice person.

'People are saying to me, "What was he going into jail for?" I didn't have it in me to ask him that. I just thought it was impolite. I didn't want to provoke anything that made him uncomfortable, that's for sure.'

Jose told Jarvis he was going to Rikers Island, a notorious New York facility that now mostly holds inmates serving short sentences and accused criminals unable to secure bail. Asked whether he'd been to Rikers Island before, Jose replied: 'Yes, ma'am, it's horrible.'

Jarvis thought she would be able to keep Tiny. But as he left the kitchen, Jose asked her if he could call her when he got out in three months' time. 'I want to find out how Tiny is,' he said.

Jarvis says she felt sorry for Jose, and offered to return the pet when he's out of jail. But despite her initial reluctance, she's now 'really happy' to be caring for Tiny.

'She smells a bit, and I did give her a bath today. I suspect she's probably got worms. She's very nervy ... initially she was just hiding under the couch but now she's following me around,' she says.

'She eats a lot, that's the good news. The vet's coming tomorrow.'

Jarvis is also trying to think of ways to keep Jose and Tiny in touch during the months ahead.

'Everyone's been asking me, "Are you going to go visit Jose with Tiny?" I found out I can't actually physically do that,' she says.

'But the New York Corrections Department has made it possible—I don't know what hoops you have to jump through, it certainly didn't make it sound like it was probable and always happens, but it's possible—that you can visit someone via Skype.

'It occurs to me that I could do Skype visitations with Jose with Tiny on my lap. It'd be great for Jose. Tiny won't get it.'

RN Breakfast is the show informed Australians wake up to. Start each day with comprehensive coverage and analysis of national and international events, and hear interviews with the people who matter today—along with those who'll be making news tomorrow.

