Lulu, the Kubacki family’s cherished pet, went stolen on June 18. “She means everything,” Ted Kubacki, her father, told the Associated Press. “I have five daughters, and they’re 4 to 13 years old, so they’ve spent every day of their life with that dog.”
For weeks, the whole Kubacki family looked for Lulu, but to no avail. Someone even texted the family, saying they’d discovered Lulu, only to follow up with a “just kidding.”
On July 5, however, a construction team discovered the golden retriever, which they originally mistaken for a bear, under a salmonberry bush beside the road they were working on. Lulu was about 15 feet down an embankment off the road, not far from the Kubacki’s house. Closer investigation revealed that the construction crew had discovered a dog in need of care.
Ted Kubacki told the Associated Press that when he learned Lulu had been found, he “called my wife from work and it was just screaming.” She simply begins shouting, and then she shouts at the children. And all I can hear is them shouting.”
But Lulu was in terrible shape following her erroneous foray into the woods. According to the Associated Press, Lulu, a usually 80-pound dog, had lost 23 pounds and was extremely dehydrated, unclean, and covered in matted fur.
“I just expected to return and say, ‘Hey, here’s my dog.'” “She’s going to jump up, wag her tail, and kiss my face, and she couldn’t even pick up her head,” Kubacki told the Associated Press. “She’d been through the wringer.”
But, thanks to medical treatment, rest and relaxation, and nourishment, Lulu is on the mend.
“Slowly but steadily, she began to feed, and she was able to raise her head. But then yesterday, she raised herself up on her front paws by herself, cuddled against me, kissed me, wagged her tail, and it was just so lovely,” Kubacki told the Associated Press.
Kubacki told the Associated Press that he was concerned about financing Lulu’s vet expenses, but that people in their hometown of Sitka had contributed hundreds of dollars to help.
“We have a family member who has returned home,” Kubacki remarked.