Kelly Olynyk and his wife, Jackie, helped spread some Christmas cheer during the holiday season. The pair stumbled across a stray dog while out for lunch in Austin, Texas. After being unable to find a shelter with enough space to house the dog, the former Boston Celtics big man and his wife were able to locate an emergency clinic and get the owner’s details via its microchip.
However, things didn’t go according to plan. After driving to the registered address of the stray pooch, Olynyk and his wife found out that the address details were outdated.
“We’re like, we have the address!,” Olynyk told Eric Walden of the Salt Lake City Tribune. “So we then drive to this person’s address, and we knock on the door, and we’re like, ‘Hey, I think we found your dog.’ And they’re like, ‘Uh, I don’t have a dog,’” Olynyk recalled. “We’re like, ‘Oh, are you so and so?’ They’re like, ‘No, and I’ve lived here for four years. It’s not me.’”
Failing to be discouraged by their setback, the couple began to play detective. They had the owner’s name and former address, which could be enough to find time via social media.
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 7, 2024
Hitting several dead ends, they decided it was best to keep the dog with them until they could figure out the next steps.
“We call the hotel and we’re like, ‘Do you guys accept dogs or pets?’ And they’re like, ‘No, we don’t,’ but the lady’s really nice and says, ‘If you just walk in (with it), I don’t think anyone will say anything,’” Olynyk said. “So we walk in with this dog, we act like we know what we’re doing, and we just go up to our room. Now we have this dog in our room in his hotel on the road.”
After digging online and sending messages, Olynyk and his wife begin to game plan.
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 8, 2024
Fortunately, later in the day, they received a phone call from a local number. The owner on the other end provided them with details about the dog, and so they found themselves driving to a meet. That’s when the miracle really occurred.
The dog’s owner was being reunited with their pet after four years apart.
“She’s like, ‘This a crazy story — because I haven’t seen my dog for four years!’” Olynyk said. “And we’re like, ‘What?! That long?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, I used to work downtown, and I dropped her off at a dog sitter, and I went back after work to get her, and she was gone. The dog sitter was gone, blocked my number, and just stole my dog.’”
Now, after reuniting a lost dog with its long-lost owner, the Olynyks have a difficult decision to make — do they get another dog together?
Delon Wright, Alec Burks join Kelly Olynyk as proposed Celtics trade targets https://t.co/dpp7M0iEwy pic.twitter.com/ENsup8auyR
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 8, 2024
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