After seven long years of heartbreak and searching, Gabrielle Hartley has finally reunited with her beloved husky, Luca — a dog she thought she’d lost forever.
In 2018, Hartley’s Tampa home was burglarized, and her one-year-old pup disappeared during the incident. Despite filing police reports and searching tirelessly, Luca was nowhere to be found. “When Luca was just one year old, my home was broken into and he was stolen from me,” Hartley shared on her GoFundMe page. “I searched everywhere, filed reports, and held onto hope.”
For years, Hartley kept her PetKey microchip subscription active in case Luca was ever found. Last week, that faith was rewarded. PetKey contacted her to say her dog had been located after a police officer spotted him wandering alone on a street. The officer brought him to Animal Doctors of South Tampa, where his microchip revealed his identity.
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Seeing Luca again was an emotional moment. Hartley said her heart “broke” when she realized the condition he was in. She believes he was used for breeding and later abandoned when his health declined. “He’s severely malnourished and has a large growth on his side that needs to be surgically removed,” she wrote on GoFundMe.
According to Hartley, Luca was also suffering from a urinary tract infection, a blood infection, broken teeth likely caused by trying to escape a cage, and numerous defensive wounds. “He’s only about 38 pounds — for a full-grown male dog, that’s not even close to healthy,” she explained.
Now that they’re back together, Hartley is determined to give Luca the care he deserves. She hopes to raise $10,000 to cover his medical costs and restore his health. “I just want to give him the love, comfort, and security he deserves after everything he’s been through,” she said.
