This unbelievable and remarkable story began on July 6, 2024, when Lala was sent from South Korea to find her forever home in New York State. Lala is a beautiful white Jindo mix. She is a victim of a hoarding situation and thanks to her foster mom in South Korea, Lala learned to love and how to be loved for the first time in her life. Lala arrived looking sad, terrified, and distressed. The plan was to keep Lala for two nights until her adoptive family would come to get her. Lala spent the first night in Brooklyn. The next day, Lala traveled to Upstate New York, where she would stay overnight to be picked up by her forever family the next day. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Within five minutes of arriving to Smallwood, the front door was accidentally left open and Lala managed to escape outside with her leash and harness still attached. It was dark and rainy. In the pouring rain, Lala was spotted here and there, but no one was able to catch her. Hours turned into days. She was consistently being seen by neighbors. Until one incredibly scary night, a severe thunderstorm blasted through Smallwood, and Lala was gone. There were no new sightings of her in four days, and we began to assume the worst. On July 14, 2024, I received a phone call from my aunt. “Liz, I see Lala! She is alive!”, my aunt frantically yelled into the phone. I instantly drove to their location because I couldn’t believe it could actually be her. But there Lala was... pacing, skittish, and alone. Her leash had been chewed off, with only a small part still remaining on the metal end hook. From that point forward, we were more determined than ever to save Lala. Our entire community got involved in helping. We attempted every possible method from live traps, drop traps, and even a net trap. Lala avoided them all. The sightings were being reported further and further away from our house. We set up a food station and eventually Lala returned. However, she still avoided any contact with humans and would immediately run away. In Upstate, there is so much wildlife ranging from coyotes, bears, foxes, hawks and eagles. Every day that Lala was able to make it through the night alive, was a blessing. But how long would this last? What would it take to finally catch her? We found Lala’s foster mom, Kim, through an Instagram page called, “lalaland_tbt”. The Instagram page was filled with pictures of Lala happy and thriving in her foster home in South Korea. It was clear that Lala was well taken care of. And we saw how heartbroken her foster mom, Kim, was to send her away. Why couldn’t Lala have stayed there? — we wondered. We reached out to Kim and told us that she is aware of the situation and lost sleep over this. She helped us by sending her voice recording calling to Lala, and even a shipment of clothes containing Kim’s scent along with some of Lala’s items from back home. Scenting is a way of attracting a missing dog back home, and because Lala had been fostered by Kim for three months, we were hoping the scented clothes would lure Lala inside the trap. But it was not enough. Kim was ready to travel all the way from South Korea to help us save Lala from the moment she heard about the incident. Kim told us, “You need my help. Lala will come to me. Let me save her.” We assured her that the situation was under control, and we were close to capturing Lala. This however was clearly not the case. We were getting desperate. We informed Kim that the chances of Lala recognizing her after being on the run for so long were slim. The reason is because frightened dogs quickly go into “fight or flight mode” also known as “survival mode”. This panicked state causes dogs to not recognize/respond to their owners of many years. It would be a huge loss for all of us if Lala would not recognize Kim. But we were getting desperate. The only thing that stopped Lala running was the sound of an audio recording of Kim’s voice but only for a brief second. This made us realize, that we in fact do need Kim’s help. Kim instantly booked a plane ticket and arrived to Smallwood. This trip cost her her job and savings. There she was. Tiny, quiet and strong-willed. She was like a magical fairy, making quiet steps into the forest, calling for her lost best friend. And as soon as she did, Lala appeared. At first, it seemed like Lala could not believe her eyes. She made a step back but then she ran into Kim’s arms. Showering her with kisses. This incredible bond of two soulmates made us all cry. All the incredible people of our Smallwood community were not able to hold back the tears. After being on the run for 28 days, Lala was finally reunited with her mommy. Please watch the video below, Lala reunited with Kim after 28 days of being lost Kim was told that since there is an interested party in America that wants to adopt Lala, she could not keep her. Twice she begged the rescue organization to let her have Lala and twice she was denied the rights. We are fighting to get them back together on the plane to Korea. This will take time, money and lots of prayers. We are asking you to kindly donate a little something, from your heart, to pay for the paperwork, accommodations, vet bills, legal fees and plane ticket back for these two beautiful souls. We can’t thank you enough for all of your support throughout this ordeal. May God bless each and every one of you with such a loyal friend who waited. Waited and believed.
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