They say that cats have nine lives, but dogs often have more than one as well. Lady, a white wolfdog, aged approximately 15 years, recently passed away. Following her death, her owner, who had adopted her in 2006, posted her picture to Facebook, leading to a surprising and joyful discovery connecting two Israeli families through a beloved pet.
Lady was originally the household companion of Maya and Moshik Dotan and their three children, from Netiv Ha’asarah, a small agricultural town on the border of the Gaza Strip. During a night of constant missile barrages from Gaza and returning IDF fire, which spooked a number of the neighborhood dogs, Lady escaped and fled from the loud noise of the nearby explosions. She was wearing a bright red collar.
The Dotans, upon finding Lady missing, began an extensive search for her, even going so far as getting an article printed in Israel’s largest newspaper at the time, Yediot Acharonot, which included Lady’s picture. But the search was to no avail. The family continued searching for a long time, but finally gave up hope and assumed that Lady was lost or deceased. “It was heartbreaking for us,” said Maya in a 2006 interview with the newspaper. “We all loved her, she was part of the family.”
Lady had made her way during her flight to an elementary school on the nearby Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. Vered Hanagli, a teacher at the school, took her in, and after searching fruitlessly for her owners, finally set her up with an adoptive family, the Borkos, who lived on Kibbutz Zikkim. Lady began her second life, which, luckily, was also with a warm and loving family.
Orly and Rubin Borko renamed Lady, giving her the name of Snow for her white fur color. Their two children, Yaheli and Ela, enjoyed their new pet and shared nine and a half years of love with her. Last month, Lady passed away, having lived a long and happy life. In her honor, Orly Borko posted a picture to Facebook of the dog when she was younger. It just so happened that since adopting Lady, Orly had become Facebook friends with Maya Dotan.
Maya, upon seeing the photo, trembled. “That’s Lady,” she said to herself. Maya contacted Orly, and after checking details regarding when the dog was found and adopted, as well as the red collar that Lady had on when she escaped, the two concluded that Snow was indeed Lady. The two women shared pictures of the dog from different stages in her life, and helped to comfort one another.
“The thought that Lady might be suffering all these years, saddened me,” said Maya. “But now I found out that she was happy and healthy and was with a warm and loving family on a nearby kibbutz. It is sad that I only found this out after she died, but it is still very comforting to know that she was happy and loved.”
