The McCune family from Austin, Texas have been through a stressful and scary experience with their 4- year-old pure bred male Akita, Koda. Their story takes us from their home in Central Texas to the Mexico/Texas border and back again in a case of not one, but two kidnappings of their beloved pet. Koda and his family have been on one long, wild ride and their experience reminds us of the power of perseverance and the potential for social media to bring people together.
The First Time Koda Went Missing
On a Saturday a couple of weeks ago the McCune family came home to discover their backyard gate and back door wide open. Suspecting a break-in they cautiously entered their home. They were shocked and saddened to find that all of their possessions were untouched but their dog Koda was gone. Concerned dog lovers mobilized on social media, posting and sharing Koda’s story through lost and found dog groups across Central Texas.
Much to the family’s relief, Koda turned up the next morning, asleep on the front porch of a woman 15 miles from the family’s home. Koda’s condition when found got the family thinking that Koda was deliberately taken and moved. Alyssa Johnson, Josh McCune’s daughter, told KXAN in Austin,
“The lady that found him said that there were no stickers or anything on him that looked like he had run 15 miles, so we assume he was taken there.”
The Second Time Koda Went Missing
The McCune family suspected foul play for several reasons. In addition to Koda showing up 15 miles away from home completely unscathed, McCune suggested that a pure bred intact male Akita would have value for breeding or fighting rings. He started taking extra security precautions making sure all the doors were locked and even propping a chair up against the back door to prevent or slow down a break-in.
Despite McCune’s efforts, he came home less than a week later to a sadly familiar scene. The chair was laying on its back away from the door and once again, Koda was gone. Tufts of Koda’s hair were scattered around the room leading McCune to believe that there was a struggle.
The house was lonely without Koda and his family missed him terribly. The thought of Koda being used for breeding or fighting kept McCune up at night. Unable to sleep, he listened for his friend to return at the door night after night and ran down every lead trying to find him during the day. He told KXAN,
“We will continue searching until we are 100% sure that there is no rock unturned. We will continue to reach out to vet clinics and just any leads that we get, we’ll continue to search no matter what it takes.”
Reunited Thanks to a Facebook Post
McCune received a call a few days after Koda’s second kidnapping. The caller was a man who goes by Romeo and he was calling from Del Rio, a city on the Texas/Mexico border 200 miles away from the McCune residence. The dog was alone, hot, and dehydrated when Romeo found him outside of his place of business. He kept Koda for 3 days, trying to find out who was missing him.
He happened to see a viral Facebook post about Koda’s disappearance and just knew he had the right dog. That is when he reached out to McCune and made arrangements to reunite the family. Romeo shared with McCune his theory of what happened. He suspects that the person who kidnapped Koda was trying to take him across the border but ran into trouble when he failed to produce the proper paperwork. Romeo assumes that the kidnapper just ditched Koda at that point.
Koda has now been microchipped and the McCune family has installed security cameras in their home. We are sending gratitude and thanks to the rescue groups and dog lovers who shared Koda’s story on social media, which is the sole reason Koda was reunited with his family.
Featured Image Screenshot KXAN YouTube
The post Koda the Akita Stolen from His Home, Not Once but Twice appeared first on iHeartDogs.com.
via Whisker Therapy