Woman who wanted to adopt new puppy had pleasant surprise in store for her
In what comes as a very heartwarming news, a former Allentown, Pennsylvania resident was reunited with her lost dog in the most serendipitous of ways! Aisha Nieves was scrolling through the Lehigh County Humane Society's adoption site looking for a dog for her two sons. But when she laid eyes on a tan pit bull-Rottweiler mix up for adoption at the shelter, she immediately knew who she was looking at - it was her beloved dog Kovu who she had lost a few years ago!
Kovu had gone missing from Nieves' house back in May 2019 after a truck hit her fence and he escaped. "I thought, 'Wait, that can't be him,'" Nieves told The Morning Call. "Then, I saw the little scar over one eye, the scar from when he got caught in a gate, and I was like, 'Oh my God, that's my baby, that's Kovu!'" Kovu was listed on the LCHS adoption site as "Ash", but for Nieves, there was no doubt that it was her old pup.
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She had first adopted Kovu when he was just 7 weeks old. He lived with her till he went missing in May 2019. The LCHS found him weeks later in bad health. "He needed to be treated for fleas, was missing hair on his hind end and had inflammation," LCHS director of development Deirdre Snyder told the outlet. "He was treated with antibiotics and bathed with a special medical shampoo. He was in our shelter for about four months and then adopted out to a family in October 25, 2019."
Later when Nieves went to the shelter again, she learned that Kovu had already been adopted by another family.
But it looks like the two were meant to meet once again. Earlier this month, Kovu was reportedly returned to the shelter because the family who adopted him was facing eviction. After seeing her lost dog on the site -- she could recognise him anywhere -- Nieves immediately called the shelter to let them know that she was Kovu's original owner. She wanted to reunite with the pup but was worried that he wouldn't remember her.
But she had nothing to worry about; it was as if the two had never been separated! According to The Morning Call, Nieves said that at the reunion, "He was screaming, trying to get away from the guy holding him and run to me. Then, he just jumped on me, and we started kissing and hugging. He sat on my lap. I told him, 'Yeah, buddy, you're going home. I'm so sorry this happened. Never again am I losing you.'"
"Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, and that is likely the first thing that brings the recognition," Snyder said, adding that it is common for dogs to recognize their owner after a long period of time. "There are many videos online of military personnel coming home after a long time away and their dog will recognize them with a similar joy and excitement that Kovu had for Aisha."
Following their reunion, Kovu is home with Nieves and her family. In winter this year, he will be celebrating his seventh birthday.
“Now that he’s back home, I feel whole again,” she said. “All that time he was gone, I felt like a piece of me was missing. Never did I stop thinking about him or wondering if he was being treated well wherever he was. I’d look at Facebook pictures of us together and start crying. I just wanted my baby back. And now he is.”