Aisha Nieves was looking for a dog to adopt when she came across Kovu, who disappeared from her home two years earlier.
(CNN) -
A woman was browsing through the list of adoptable dogs when she came across a photo that made her heart stop.
There he was, her old puppy and best friend, Kovu, whom Aisha Nieves had devastatedly lost two years earlier when she lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
"He was my baby. He went everywhere with me. He slept in my bed," Nieves told CNN affiliate WFMZ.
"Literally the definition of man's best friend."
In June 2019, Kovu, a mix of pit bull and rottweiler, was captured as a stray dog after a car slammed into the Nieves fence and created a hole through which the dog escaped, WFMZ reported.
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Kovu was rescued and taken to the Lehigh County Humane Society (LCHS), which renamed the sweet dog "Ash."
For four months, Kovu underwent medical treatment for fleas and inflammation until he was ready to be adopted, LCHS Community Engagement Manager Julie Huber told CNN.
During that time, Nieves desperately searched for his dog, but when he went to the Humane Society asking if they had seen him, it was too late.
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Kovu had found a home with another family.
However, after nearly two years, the family faced eviction due to the coronavirus pandemic and was forced to return Kovu to the organization, Huber said.
That's when the puppy's familiar face reappeared on the website at the same time that Nieves was searching for a new pet.
Recognizing the small scar over her right eye, Nieves was sure it was her baby and immediately called the organization, she told WFMZ.
"After presenting proof of ownership to LCHS, the woman came to visit the dog and it was clear to everyone that when they got together, Ash was, in fact, Kovu, her beloved pet from years ago," Huber said.
The moment Aisha Nieves met Kovu, her missing dog.
Although she was concerned that her best friend would no longer remember her after years apart, it didn't take long for the two to fall in love again.
On June 18, the day they met, Nieves and the dog looked into each other's eyes and he immediately started wagging his tail, he told WFMZ.
"As soon as he got closer, he started crying and screaming and screaming and jumping on me kissing me," he said.
"I love him so much. I'm so happy he's back."
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After their reunion, in which Kovu ran in circles and jumped into Nieves's arms over and over again, they went home.
"Their reunion was undeniable and heartwarming to everyone who was there," Huber said.
"The way Kovu reacted and remembered [his] owner when he saw her made the reunion even more memorable. It was a moment that gave you all those loving chills."
The humanitarian organization encourages all pet owners to tag, microchip or enroll their pets so that if they get lost, they can return home more easily.
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