Lost Korean TV star dog missing for 5 weeks reunited with Kelowna family

Milla survived freezing temperatures of -26 over the Christmas period before she was rescued.

Photo | Kyle Dyck / GoFundMe

A dog made famous on Korean television after being rescued from a desert island has been reunited with her family after going missing for 5 weeks.

Rescue dog Milla had only been living with her new family in Kelowna for two weeks when she bolted on a walk in an orchard on November 28, according to Castanet.

White Jindo-mix Milla was saved from a desert island in Korea in June 2020, with her rescue being filmed by Korean TV network SBS TV. The footage has nearly 1.3 million views.

The footage shows Milla sleeping alone on the island and wandering around as two rescuers attempt to trap and retrieve her.

After the "scared" Jindo disappeared, Milla's owner Kyle Dyck created a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of a professional trapper to help retrieve his dog.

Writing on the website, he said: "Since Milla was already trapped previously, and is very cautious, we are told we only have one chance to do this right. We decided that bringing in an expert was the best option."

The community had also collected cans and bottles to raise funds to help Dyck pay for the trapper.

Despite heavy snowfall and minus temperatures going below -26 over the Christmas period, Calgary-based K9 Recovery Services successfully baited Milla into an enclosure on Sunday, January 2.

Dyck shared the happy news on the GoFundMe page: "Good news! Milla is back at home safe. Thank you so much for all of your support and for not giving up on her. We are all decompressing for the moment, but she is safe."

Posting on Facebook, he added: "Thank you so much to K9 Recovery, and all of the other people that volunteered so much of their time, energy, and resources for her safe rescue."