MOUNTAIN TOP — A dog abandoned in Kingston last month has found his happily-ever-after and a forever home with his new people.
Rachel and Nic Lakkis, 28 and 29, welcomed the boxer, now affectionately called “Zooka” or “Zook” into their Mountain Top home, where he also enjoys the company of his two human sisters.
The dog was seen chasing after the vehicle that left him behind before he ended up with the Kingston Police Department.
From there, the pooch ended up with the SPCA of Luzerne County. Rachel says they saw the Facebook post from the Kingston Police Department, and they immediately put in an application to adopt him.
The couple ended up being the first of what she said were eight to ten applicants. The SPCA reviewed the Lakkis’s references, and they went to meet with the dog.
She says the dog immediately ran up to her husband as if they had known each other forever. And she thought: “Okay, yeah, we’re definitely adopting this dog.”
Rachel says it was quite the moment, as they had no idea what the dog may have been through or if he had any trauma from his abandonment, but his reaction let them know he’d become a part of their family.
The next step, she said, was introducing the dog to their young daughters.
“We wanted it to be a complete surprise and just show up with him,” Lakkis said.
And their reactions? Well, Rachel laughed and remarked, “I’ve never seen my older daughter speechless. And just for days, she would ask, ‘We’re not gonna take him back, right?’”
The younger daughter just acted like the dog had been there forever. Rachel added, “She loved him. And he was so gentle with them, I can’t believe how gentle he is with the girls.”
That said, he does still try to eat from their plates, but Lakkis laughed it off. “So that’s something we’re working on, but he’s adapted extremely well.”
The overarching theme of this dog’s journey, however, is fate.
Rachel says her husband Nic, originally of Plains Township, grew up in a family that had always had boxers.
“We love the breed and we know how smart they are,” she said, and admitted they had been looking to adopt a family dog, especially since a close family friend, the late Brian Stucker, had installed a fence in their yard fairly recently.
Stucker, who died in January, had been an avid dog-lover and talented mason. “He had a bunch of hunting dogs that him and my dad took care of,” she said, explaining that her father and Stucker were the best of friends. With Stucker’s love of dogs in mind, and the wonderful job he had done on fixing their yard and installing the pup-proof fence, Rachel firmly believes the dog was brought to them as a gift from a family friend from the other side.
“It was fate, you know? It was destiny.”
Zooka’s full story has yet to be told, however.
“They’ve (police) been trying to find who ended up dumping him out of the car,” Lakkis said, however she told the Kingston Police Department, “Honestly, I feel like this was meant to be.”
Of course, she wishes the person had surrendered the pup the right way, to a shelter, but she holds no animosity.
“If I found them (the original owner) I’d say ‘thank you. Thank you for our new family member, because he fits in great. He’s doing awesome.’”
As mentioned earlier, they named the pup “Zooka,” or “Zook” for short, which Rachel later found out was eerily close to the name of her mother’s childhood dog, marking yet another fateful moment.
Rachel, originally from the East End section of Wilkes-Barre, currently teaches at the Bear Creek Community Charter School. Her husband works in law enforcement.
The two have a date with the SPCA next month to get a little more information on Zooka’s age and health, but regardless of where he’s been, he’s now welcomed as a Lakkis with the most open of arms and loving of hearts.
