A rescuer desperately searching for a scared, skittish dog believed to be a stray seen wandering in a Los Angeles canal earlier this week was united with the pup in a tearful first meeting Friday night.
Rescuers first spotted the dog, who has since been named Dakota, near Mid-City last week after he got through a fence that city officials chained up afterward.
Vickie Wagner of Eloise Rescue told NBC4 she searched for the dog for a week, worried he would be trapped when a rainstorm made landfall in Los Angeles.
Wagner asked the city if she could reopen the fence, so she did, and left a trail of hamburger meat for the dog to follow. On Thursday, Vickie noticed the hamburger was gone.
On Friday about 6:30 p.m., hours after heavy rains pelted Southern California, Wagner got a phone call from a friend who said the elusive pup was in the backyard of a home near La Brea and Melrose avenues.
"He texted me a picture of the dog and I knew it was him," Wagner said.
Dakota the dog was inside the garage so he couldn't run off again, Wagner said. The dog was not wearing a collar.
After a tearful meeting, she loaded him into her car and took him to the vet to get him checked out.
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Now, Wagner is hoping someone will adopt Dakota, who is a 2 or 3-year-old Malamute.
Dakota will get medical care, get microchipped, and go into a foster home before he will go up for adoption.
Anyone interested in adopting Dakota should visit EloiseRescue.org.