The Cabada family reunites with dog Hades, AKA Ghost.Photo: Courtesy The Animal Foundation
A rescue dog is back with his Las Vegas family after months ofrunning with a pack of coyotesin the Nevada desert.
The 4-year-old bull terrier mix — nicknamed Ghost but whose real name is Hades — has beenreturned to the Cabada familyfollowing a custody battle with the women who saved him from the wild and nicknamed him Ghost,USA Todayreported Wednesday, citing the nonprofitAnimal Foundationshelter.
The outlet added that the reunion happened after the family provided videos, photographs and documents that proved they’d been searching for their dog.
“There was plenty of evidence this was their dog,” shelter spokeswoman Kelsey Pizzi said, perUSA Today.
“It was a very emotional reunion,” Pizzi toldUSAToday. “As soon as Hades saw his family, he ran right over to them and his tail never stopped wagging. The children were crying and Hades kept jumping into everyone’s arms.”
Speaking toUSA Today, Christy Cabada revealed the emotional cost of the incident.
“This past week I was feeling horrible,” she said. “I had anxiety and a knot in my chest and honestly, all of it went away when he recognized us. My heart felt full of love.”
“We got him some Valentine’s treats, he’s here, home in his big old fluffy bed,” she added.
While authorities previously believed Hades wasdumped in the desert as a puppy, Cabada toldInsideEditionthat heescaped from her yardin August and had not been seen since.
“He ran out, his fence is so little. He just jumped over that fence and he took off running,” Cabada told the news show.
Before the canine’s rescue occurred and his story was shared, residents in the Inspirada neighborhood of Henderson, southeast of Las Vegas, had seen the dog among the wild animals on a near-nightly basis and had posted sightings of the all-white pup on social media.
“It seems like he may have been put out there … and somehow or another, the coyotes just accepted him,” Susan McMullen of the Southern Nevada Trapping Teamtold Fox 5 Vegas.
The Southern Nevada Trapping Team used crowdsourced information to locate Hades, eventually luring the dog into a crate with food. The rescuers discovered the depths of Hades' hunger when an exam revealed that the dog had eaten rocks while in the wild. He also had scars across his body, in addition to an infection and a broken toe,USA Todaysaid.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Cabada sent McMullen photos of the dog to prove ownership, despite his lack of a chip, reportedUSA Today.
While McMullen initially refused to let the dog go, in a confrontation that led to police intervention and Clark County Animal Protection stepping in to house the dog for a few days as custody was confirmed, Hades was finally reunited with the Cabadas.
According toUSA Today,McMullen posted a video to Facebook on Feb. 14 saying she would contend the custody ruling, however, as of Feb. 16, the video was not available.
source: people.com
