On a mission to save lives, Donna Lochmann set out to rescue a sweet, chubby dog mom and her four round little puppies who were hiding in a cluttered backyard overrun with tall grass and debris. It was a heartbreaking scene—these innocent animals were living in neglect after their human family was likely forced to leave due to eviction.
Despite her dire situation, the mama dog, later named Donutfest, turned out to be incredibly affectionate and full of gratitude. Her gentle smile said it all—she knew she and her babies had just been given a second chance.
Back in 2022, Donna Lochmann, Chief Lifesaving Officer at Stray Rescue of St. Louis, got a call about the dog family in need. A concerned neighbor had spotted the animals hiding among the weeds in the overgrown backyard. Donna knew right away that rescuing them wouldn’t be easy. A mother dog’s instinct to protect her puppies is strong, and she’d need a calm, experienced approach to gain the dog’s trust.
When Donna arrived, she noticed the puppies were out in the open—one was even lounging on a torn-up, abandoned couch. But she knew better than to scoop them up right away. With years of experience under her belt, Donna understood that winning over the mom would be the key to a successful rescue.
Carefully crafting her plan, she decided to start with the mother. “I thought, ‘Well, I’m just gonna try to get mom first because if she’s barking at me, I don’t know what her reaction is gonna be when I start picking up her puppies,’” she later explained to The Dodo.
The mother dog, white-coated with visible scratches on her head, looked at Donna with wary, tired eyes. She was clearly starving and exhausted. So, Donna opened a can of Vienna sausages and gently lured the mama toward her car. To her relief, the dog—who would soon be called Donutfest in honor of Donna’s love for donuts—climbed right in.
With Donutfest safely in the car, Donna turned her focus to the puppies. The first was found near a fence and didn’t run, but she made her feelings known. “She absolutely started screaming,” Donna recalled. “I can’t believe nobody in the neighborhood came out to see what was going on.”
After calming the vocal pup and reuniting her with Donutfest in the car, Donna searched the yard for the remaining three. Two were hiding deep in the weeds, and the last was still curled up on the old couch. When she approached, the puppies dashed into the thick brush, making them harder to reach. But Donna didn’t panic. Instead, she used the same strategy that worked before—food.
She opened a can of puppy food, and the smell was just too tempting for the little ones to resist. One cautiously crept out and eventually let her scoop him up. With three out of four puppies now safe with their mom, only one remained—the couch pup, who had wandered off. But his tiny legs didn’t carry him very far, and Donna gently picked him up before he could get too far away.
“It took me a while to get the last three puppies,” Donna said. “But once I got them all in the car, I was so happy.”
Back at the Stray Rescue of St. Louis, the puppies were given a thorough checkup and quickly moved into foster care. Donna’s efforts were met with warmth and admiration as the rescue posted pictures of the adorable pups online. The internet fell in love with them instantly.
The puppies—now named Maple Long John, Chocolate Sprinkles, Jelly Filled, and Boston Crème—soon found themselves at the center of adoption inquiries. Their sweet faces and chubby little bellies melted hearts across the region. Meanwhile, Donutfest was spayed and estimated to be around three years old. Fittingly, she was adopted on the very day of St. Louis’ Donut Fest that fall.
“Donutfest has simply stolen our hearts here at Stray Rescue,” the organization shared on Facebook. “This adorable mama was rescued with her puppies at the beginning of October. In that short time, her sweet and sad face transformed into the biggest smile EVER!” Photos on the page show her transformation from a worried, worn-down mom to a glowing, joyful dog surrounded by love. “You can see how thankful she is now that she has human friends who will show her love.”
The photo gallery on Stray Rescue’s Facebook page is a rollercoaster of emotions. Day after day, their team tirelessly rescues animals that have been abused, abandoned, or simply forgotten. Since the end of the national eviction moratorium in 2021, shelters have been overwhelmed. An estimated 8 million pets were either left behind or brought to already overcrowded shelters. The ASPCA estimates that nearly 920,000 animals are euthanized each year, including 390,000 dogs and 530,000 cats.
But Stray Rescue of St. Louis is different. They operate as a no-kill shelter and refuse to euthanize animals simply because they’re sick or there’s no room. “We seek out and take in the animals who no other organization will help or would simply euthanize because they are too expensive to heal,” their website states. “We see beyond their brokenness and are here to pick up the pieces to make these special animals whole again.”
One example is Owen, a dog who was cruelly beaten and left paralyzed. X-rays showed his legs were damaged beyond use, and his injuries were so severe that his legs were raw from dragging. Another case was Remo, a young dog who had been shot in the leg. His bone was shattered and exposed, but thanks to donations, he underwent emergency surgery. Just weeks later, Remo was not only recovering, but had been adopted into a loving home.
“The next morning, he not only woke up but he was doing great!!” the rescue reported. “This boy is going to have the most charmed life with his amazing new parents. And he’ll have them wrapped around his paw in no time with those expressive eyebrows of his.”
Stories like these shine a light on the ongoing crisis of homeless and abused animals—and the selfless people working every day to save them. If this story made you smile, or even shed a tear, please share it and help raise awareness. Together, we can create a better future for animals in need.
