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Ollie was alone, trapped inside an abandoned school building in Missouri with nothing but broken glass and old trash around him. No food, no water, no one coming through the door. Just a scared dog peeking out of a cracked second-story window, waiting for someone to notice. He didn’t bark or cry. He just watched and hoped. And finally, someone did.
Donna Lochmann from Stray Rescue of St. Louis spotted him looking out through that shattered glass. His eyes, full of longing, stopped her in her tracks. In that moment, she knew she had to get to him. She obtained a ladder and climbed inside.
Once inside the crumbling building, Donna found Ollie in the middle of it all. The space was cold, littered with debris, and full of sharp edges, but Ollie wasn’t defensive or scared. He walked right up to her and gently pressed into her arms, as if he had been waiting for that moment all along.
“You could tell it wasn’t an aggressive stance at all,” Donna later said in the video below. “This dog ended up not having an aggressive bone in his body.”
Despite everything he had gone through, Ollie had no anger or fear in him. Just trust. He was tired, but more than anything, he seemed relieved. Once at the shelter, he soaked up every bit of love that came his way. Cuddles, belly rubs, soft blankets—he welcomed it all like he’d always known how to love, just never had the chance to show it.
Ollie didn’t stay at the shelter for long. Cassie and her partner saw his rescue video and felt an immediate connection. “My friend sent us the rescue video and we immediately fell in love,” Cassie said.
Their first meeting only confirmed what they already knew. Ollie had found his people.
These days, Ollie’s life is full of joy. He spends his time going on walks, meeting new friends, and soaking up snuggles from his new family. He has traded crumbling concrete floors for warm beds and lonely windows for wide-open hearts.
“He doesn’t remember being all alone, scared, and starving in that school,” the team at Stray Rescue of St. Louis shared. “All he knows is what’s happening now, and he is spoiled.”
