Woman Looking To Adopt Pet From A Shelter Finds Her Dog Who Ran Away Two Years Ago

A woman who was looking to adopt a pet dog for her two children from a Pennsylvania shelter was shocked to find a dog she had lost two years ago listed for adoption.

Asha Nieves had logged onto the Lehigh County Humane Society’s website and was scrolling through pictures of dogs for adoption when she happened to find the picture of a familiar dog.

She saw a picture of her dog Kovu, who had gone missing from Nieves’ yard in Allentown in 2019, The Morning Call reported.

"I at first thought, ‘No way is this my dog,'" Nieves told the outlet. "They had him under another name, 'Ash' When I was sure it was him, I got so excited I was literally shaking."

She had named him after the character in "The Lion King."

"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!'" Nieves said.

She got Kovu in 2014 when he was 7 weeks old. He lived with her in her 14th Street home in Allentown until May 2019, before he ran away through a hole made by a car crashing into her front gate.

"I found out he was gone when I came home later that day and he wasn’t there to run to me and give me kisses like he usually did," Nieves said.

"I searched the whole house and couldn’t find him, then looked around Allentown for a good week or so and still couldn’t find him."

"I was four months pregnant with my younger son at the time," she said.

"I had a lot of emotions going through me. I was crying, thinking the worst, thinking somebody kidnapped or hurt him. I was just devastated. He was there for me through everything, heartbreaks, ups, and downs, and now he was gone. It was so hard to accept."

The Lehigh County Humane Society had picked Kovu on June 8, 2019, after he was spotted in an Allentown resident’s yard on Eighth Street.

"Our staff named him 'Ash,'" LCHS director of development Deirdre Snyder said.

"He needed to be treated for fleas, was missing hair on is hind end and had inflammation. 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 Oct. 25, 2019."

"On June 12 of this year, the family returned, stating they were facing possible eviction and needed to surrender him," Snyder said. "We accepted him and waived the surrender fee. Kovu was in good health."

Six days later Nieves found her dog and contacted the shelter.

"I called the Humane Society and told them 'Ash' is my dog, Kovu, who’s been missing for two years," she said. "I told them, 'I'm on my way to get him right now, what do I need to bring?'"

Society asked her to get a picture of her with Kovu before he ran off and the fee to get him back.

"I was sweating. My hands started shaking. I was scared he wouldn’t remember me because it had been so long. I sat there, waiting for them to bring him out. Then, something made me look up and I locked eyes with him and saw him wagging his tail," she said.

The Humane Society made a Facebook post showing the moments when Nieves and Kovu reunited.

"Upon seeing his long-lost mom, the previously shy and scared Kovu let out the most excited squeal we have ever heard!" the post read.

Nieves said, "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.'"

"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," Nieves added.