METAIRIE, La. — A community came together through social media to help a Metairie woman find her emotional support dog who ran off following a car crash.
The story went viral on the internet and now, thanks to a vigilant following, Gracie Langham’s dog “Mav” has been found and returned home.
Langham tells WWL Louisiana’s Meg Farris that Mav was spotted with someone in Pensacola Florida.
On Saturday Langham met with the person in Florida who happily reunited Mav with his owner who had been desperately searching for him since the car crash on Halloween over a week ago.
“Last night at 9:17pm we received a tip that Mav was potentially with a family in Pensacola, FL. This information proved to be accurate, and this morning Mav was happily and safely reunited with his owners in Pensacola!!!! We will not be disclosing the name of the tipster until they give us permission to do so. THANKS BE TO GOD! We are so thankful and appreciative to all who have given their time, efforts, and resources in our search to find Mav. This would not have been possible without you. We are forever grateful for the power of this community and the kind hearts of many. Thank you!!!!!," said an update on the search in a social media post on a Facebook page dedicated to finding the lost dog.
"We’d like to express our extreme gratitude to the doctors and staff at Clearview Vet Hospital, Excel Signs and Graphics, and the many other businesses and community members who donated to helping get the word out about Mav being missing!"
"Now that Mav has been found, we need some time to rest and recharge. For this reason, we will not be providing any additional information or addressing any comments at this time so that we can focus on doing what we need to do for ourselves. Thank you for understanding this and respecting what we need. Thank you.”
On Halloween, it had rained, and the streets were wet and slick. Langham told WWL she was driving with her adolescent golden retriever, Mav when she made a turn in Metairie at Clearview and Utica and skidded out.
“All of the airbags deployed, and Mav was very scared, and I was very scared, and I had to kick the door out. He sprinted away from me, and I was screaming his name, and running as fast as I could behind him, but I lost him,” she said.
Startled by the commotion after the crash Mav ran off and after Langham launched a plea on social media, the public search began.
Mav is an emotional support animal offering emotional support and is being trained to detect nuts in food for Langham who has a nut allergy.
Mav’s family with the Humane Society of Louisiana offered a $5,750 reward for the golden retriever.
Mav has a microchip implant to identify him which may have helped with the search.
Langham says she is so happy that Mav was found safe and being checked out by a veterinarian.
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