Rescued dog adopted by Seattle family found, lost and found again

SEATTLE, Wash. — A dog from Texas came to Seattle to start a new life, but ended up spending her first weekend here on the run from her new family.

Mila was flown to Sea-Tac Airport on Friday to meet the local family that adopted her from a Texas animal shelter. read more Seattle-Tacoma airport lost and found

She was found on the streets of Houston and had been staying at a shelter called Reggie’s Friends.

But, when she arrived at the airport, she escaped from her kennel and bolted as the family tried to greet her.

“When they went to let her out of her kennel, she got spooked and she took off, and she ran,” said Lachrystal Ricke, who works at Reggie’s Friends and flew to Seattle to help find Mila. read more Seattle airport lost and found

A team of volunteers set out to look for her. She is micro-chipped but wasn’t wearing a collar.

“We talked to the people at Alaska Airlines and they told us they’d seen her yesterday (Saturday) morning and they put some food and water out for her,” said Ricke.

By late Saturday, the team of volunteers searching for Mila had expanded to include local shelter workers and other rescue groups. They circulated flyers, trying to find the dog.

Then someone spotted Mila in The Bonney Watson Cemetery near the airport.

“We got a call from someone saying they’d found her and they’d seen her here in the cemetery,” said Ricke. “We came right over and we saw her, right off the bat.”

But still, no one could catch Mila. “She eluded us all night, and we left her last night, which broke my heart,” said Ricke. read more Seattle-Tacoma airport lost property
Then Sunday morning, Mila finally recognized a familiar face.

“I came back looking for her this morning and she popped her head up from under a tree,” said Ricke. “I saw her and she saw me and we just sat. We sat for a good while.”

“I think she finally realized who I was and finally realized that she was going to be safe,” she added.

Mila will be checked out by a local veterinarian on Monday. Once she gets the all-clear, she’ll rejoin her new family and get to finally see her new home.