A stray dog wandering the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, recently found himself in a terrifying predicament. While exploring an elevated parking lot, the pup leapt through an opening in a chain-link fence — only to realize too late that he’d landed on a narrow ledge just a few feet below. One misstep could have sent him falling.
“When he realized how little space he had, he was too scared to move,” Stray Rescue of St. Louis (SRSL) shared on Facebook. “He cried for help, and that’s when we got the call.”
With no way to climb back up, the brown-and-white pit bull mix was completely stranded. His anxious cries echoed through the area until Donna Lochmann, SRSL’s chief lifesaving officer, rushed to the scene.
The 2-year-old dog, later named Hoka, was visibly shaking when Lochmann arrived. But the moment he heard her calm voice and saw her approaching, his fear began to melt away.
“He trusted us right away,” SRSL wrote. “He let us pick him up and lift him safely off the ledge. He was so relieved to be free.”
You can watch Lochmann approach Hoka for the first time here:
Lochmann carefully carried Hoka to safety and drove him straight to the veterinary clinic. After a full exam, vets were happy to report that he hadn’t suffered any injuries.
Although Hoka was wearing a collar, it held no identifying information. He wasn’t microchipped, and despite outreach efforts on social media, no family ever came forward to claim him.
That’s when SRSL decided to make Hoka part of their rescue family while they searched for his forever home. And it didn’t take long for him to win everyone over.
“He loves absolutely everyone — he’s what we call super-duper friendly,” SRSL wrote. “He doesn’t know a stranger and has the sweetest personality.”
Now cleared for adoption, Hoka is ready to leave his scary past behind and start a brand-new chapter with a family of his own. The rescue team is confident his perfect match is out there.
“He’s ready to go home,” SRSL wrote.
To learn more about adopting Hoka, you can submit an application through Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Donations to SRSL also help ensure dogs like Hoka get the second chances they deserve.
