KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A brown and white Boxer-Rottweiler mix tossed from a car with a sign taped to her body last week has been reunited with her rightful owner.
“Lakota’s” story begins when Jeremy Pilaczynki saw something he said he will never forget be able to forget while he was driving to work.
"We were pulling up this road… And a van slowed down in front of us and opened up a side door, dropped the dog out and the dog kept running this way," he said.
"Lakota" ran, but she could not catch the van.
"Lakota"
KSHB reportsthat it was likely a blessing for the animal, because she ran straight into the arms of Pilaczynki and Jill West, who both work at Sallas Auto Repair.
West was dumbfounded by what she saw.
"Furious, I couldn't believe someone could do something like that," West said.
Pilaczynki said that he could not believe someone would abandon the “80-pound lapdog."
West posted about “Lakota’s” story on Facebook and that photo spread like wildfire.
"A friend of hers, who I do not know, was scrolling through Facebook and noticed his wife's dog on Facebook," West said.
As a result, she and the dog's original owner, Juanita Lukens, became friends.
Juanita Lukens and Jill West
Jill and Lukens met when she was reunited the dog, who now has a sore on her back leg and a scrape on her back leg. She also has residue from a sign was taped to her when she was dumped from the van.
The sign read: “My name is "Lakoda. I am house trained and very friendly. I am old AND NEED A HOME.”
West doesn't know who did it, but believes they knew the dog's name, but spelled it wrong.
That alone won't find who tossed the animal from the car, but right now they’re focused on helping “Lakota” recover.
Lukens said she lost the dog after she let her stay with a family friend while she moved. However, that friend eventually gave the animal away without her permission.
Authorities do not yet know why tossed “Lakota” from the van.
