From the moment that Pakita was dropped off at the shelter, after being found wandering the streets over two years ago, the staff could sense that something just wasn’t quite right.
After being dropped off at Argentina’s Arca Animal refuge, the dog seemed to be withdrawn, sad, and depressed. Days would go by, and nothing seemed to change. People would pass him by day after day, for younger, peppier dogs.
“People prefer puppies,” volunteer Silvia Ferreyra told The Dodo. “So, for two years, she stayed with us.”
Silvia had fallen in love with the dog, despite his sullen demeanor, but no one seemed to want to give him a chance.
Pakita was so depressed that the shelter staff was finding it difficult to even get a picture of her. Every time they’d try, she would turn and cower away from the camera, no amount of coaxing or comforting would help.
Finally, after multiple attempts, they were able to get a decent picture of the dog and put it up on social media. They were hoping to find a potential adopter for Pakita, but as it turns out, she already had a home.
“Immediately, we get a message from a woman saying that the dog was her son’s and that he had been looking for her!” Silvia said.
Ariel Naveira is the name of the woman’s son, and he had been trying desperately to find his beloved dog for the past two long years. She had escaped from their yard and he never saw her again, despite all of his efforts to find her.
Both Silvia and Ariel weren’t 100% sure if this was the dog that he had lost two years ago, so they arranged a meeting to be certain. The very next day, Ariel drove to Arca Animal refuge to confirm what he hoped would be the end of a long, emotional search.
Everyone’s hopes were high that Pakita was, in fact, Ariel’s dog. They brought her out from her kennel and were saddened by her initial reaction.
Since years had gone by, the depressed dog had given up on finding her family. So when they brought her out into the yard, she was acting like her usual, sad and withdrawn self. But soon, she looked up and decided to approach Ariel a little bit closer.
Pakita cautiously approached Ariel and wasn’t exactly sure what to think at first, but then, she went in for a sniff of his scent, and this is when everything changed. She couldn’t believe that it was really her dad!
After getting a sniff of her long-lost owner, Pakita’s tail began to wag and she couldn’t help but smother Ariel in kisses.
“From that moment there was no doubt,” Silvia said. “It was beautiful looking back on that moment. I was sad to lose her but to get her back was spectacular. There are no words to describe it.”
Since Pakita and Ariel were reunited, life truly couldn’t be better for them both. Ariel says that she is ecstatic to be back home in her familiar territory with people that love and care for her – what she had been missing for so long.
“We are super happy,” Ariel boasted about having Pakita back home.
Watch their emotional reunion in the video below.
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