A few weeks ago, a man in St. Louis, Missouri, was on his way home from work when he noticed a tiny black-and-white dog sleeping at his bus stop. As the man got closer, he realized that the pup was tied to the bench, and she couldn’t stand up.

With the summer heat intensifying by the minute, the man immediately jumped in to save the dog.

“He actually just picked her up and carried her home,” Donna Lochmann, Stray Rescue of St. Louis’s chief life saving officer, told The Dodo. “Then he called us.”

A few moments later, Lochmann and her team arrived at the man’s house. The caller mentioned that the pup was incredibly thin, but Lochmann was shocked by her appearance when she finally saw her.

“She was emaciated, not just skinny,” Lochmann said. “She was outside on a little blanket, lying in the shade, but she couldn’t even stand. So, I picked her up and carried her to the Jeep.”

The pup, later named She-Ra, was too weak to stand, but Lochmann quickly learned that she could wag her tail. Despite the pain she was in, She-Ra was clearly happy to be in Lochmann’s presence.

When She-Ra got to Stray Rescue of St. Louis (SRSL), the veterinary team gave her a full checkup. They didn’t know for sure what She-Ra’s past looked like, but they could tell from her condition that she didn’t grow up in a loving environment.

“I think she was kept in a small crate,” Lochmann said. “As a puppy, she had a really rough start.”

Luckily, She-Ra was in the best hands at SRSL. After some much-needed baths and a few more exams, the sweet girl was ready to start her healing journey.

The team immediately put She-Ra on a refeeding schedule, where she would eat small amounts of food multiple times a day to get her body used to processing nutrition again.

The pup still couldn’t move, so they happily carried her in their arms indoors and pushed her around in a stroller outside.

The more she ate, the stronger she got, and soon She-Ra was starting to stand on her own.

Her body became fully adjusted to food two weeks later, so she graduated to a regular feeding schedule. Finally, she was ready for foster care.

It wasn’t long before a loving foster family offered to take her home. With them, She-Ra’s world expanded even further.

“She was actually living in the foster home with a couple of other dogs, a cat, a monkey and a bird,” Lochmann said. “She got exposed to a whole lot and was doing really well. They had a huge fenced yard, and she just loved to run and play with the other dogs.”

She-Ra had a blast with her new foster family, but she was still hoping to find a forever home. Then, one day, she received the perfect adoption application.

“This one family filled out an application, and they actually sent an email, too, just saying how much they had fallen in love with her,” Lochmann said. “They just really wanted to give her a home. They felt like they had a lot of love to give, so the foster family met with them and instantly fell in love. When they came to the foster house to meet her for the first time, She-Ra went to the door, and their faces just lit up.”

She-Ra was ecstatic to go home with her forever family, and she’s been living the best life with them ever since.

“It’s just turned out to be a great home for She-Ra,” Lochmann said. “She gets all kinds of attention, and they take her places. She has plenty of love in her life right now.”

When Lochmann first laid eyes on She-Ra, she knew that the pup had a long journey in front of her. Today, the resilient dog’s past is far behind her. She-Ra is now stronger than ever and lives every day to the fullest.

Life is already great for She-Ra, and it just keeps getting better.

“Her story has a happy ending,” Lochmann said. “It’s a super happy ending for a girl who had nothing to start with. She’s just a happy dog.”