03-07-2025
Dog Believed Dead for 4 Years Found Alive at Shelter. But Her Family Faces New Challenges (Exclusive)
Albania Sofia Sagarra believed her dog Sugar was dead for four years, until a Florida shelter called and revealed Sugar was alive
Sugar returned home in a viral TikTok, appearing severely malnourished and suffering from multiple health issues
Now, Albania is focused on helping Sugar recover, but she's anxious about Sugar's fragile state and the uncertainty surrounding how and why she was abandoned before her returnFor four years, Albania Sofia Sagarra lived with the ache of loss, believing her dog Sugar was gone forever. Then, in a TikTok that swept across millions of screens, Albania was seen with tears streaming down her face as she clutched Sugar, the little dog she thought she'd never see again.
'I still can't believe it,' Albania tells PEOPLE. 'We were told she was gone forever.'
The video's caption said it all: 'Miracles do happen.' In the short, grainy clip, Albania hugs Sugar tightly while her mother weeps beside her, both women overcome by the shock and joy of an impossible reunion.
Back in 2017, Albania adopted Sugar from a Los Angeles rescue, welcoming the mischievous pup into her family. Sugar was always adventurous, a little escape artist with a knack for finding trouble.
Four years later, in 2021, while staying with Albania's sister in Miami, Sugar slipped out of the house. Panic set in instantly, and the family launched a frantic citywide search, plastering flyers everywhere and flooding social media with pleas for help.
'People all over Miami were looking for her,' Albania says. 'We searched for her like we'd lost a family member, because we had.'
Then, a few days later, a call came that would change everything. A man who'd seen the flyers claimed he'd witnessed Sugar being hit by a car, even describing how he picked her up and watched her take her last breath.
'He even took us to the spot where it supposedly happened,' Albania tells PEOPLE. 'There was nobody, but his story was so vivid, so detailed, we believed him.' Without a body, closure was impossible.
The family mourned Sugar in a haze of confusion and heartbreak, not knowing what to hold onto or let go of. 'It was so hard to accept she was gone without seeing her,' Albania says. 'But what else could we do?'
Years passed, and the pain dulled but never disappeared. Then, on an ordinary Sunday, everything changed. 'I got a DM on Instagram from Marianne, the woman who runs the L.A. rescue,' Albania says. 'She said, 'Sugar's been found. She's at a shelter in Florida. Call me immediately.' '
The woman sent a photo, and Albania didn't need a second look. 'I knew it was her,' she says. 'There was no question.'
The shelter was closed for the day, so Albania barely slept that night and was at the doors first thing Monday morning. What she found was both joyful and devastating. 'She was a shell,' Albania recalls. 'She was so skinny. Her bones were showing. Her eyes were blank.'
Sugar, who once weighed between 13 and 14 lbs., now weighed only 8. She trembled in Albania's arms, too weak to stand, too disoriented to recognize what was safe. 'She didn't even seem to know it was me,' Albania says. 'It broke my heart.'
Some online criticized the shelter, but Albania is quick to defend them. 'The shelter did what they could,' she says. 'They found her outside. Someone dumped her like she was trash. They didn't even walk her in.'
It wasn't a collar or a tag that saved Sugar: it was the microchip Albania had implanted years ago when she first adopted Sugar. 'People think microchips are GPS, but they're not,' she explains. 'They're a lifeline. An ID. That tiny chip saved her life.'
What it couldn't reveal, though, was where Sugar had been or what she had endured. The list of medical issues Sugar now faces is overwhelming. 'She has kidney disease, heart disease, severe dental disease and malnutrition,' Albania says. 'She's very, very sick. We don't know if she'll make it.'
To help cover Sugar's mounting medical bills, Albania started a GoFundMe, but the damage is more than physical. Sugar startles easily, flinches at sudden movements and panics when left alone. 'She's just ... not there anymore,' Albania says softly. 'She looks like she has dementia. Sometimes I think she doesn't recognize me.'
The man who once declared Sugar dead never called again. No name. No explanation. Just a story that stole four years. 'He gave us 'closure' we didn't ask for,' Albania says. 'And she was still out there suffering.'
Now, Sugar is finally home, but the homecoming brings new challenges. 'She can't be left alone,' Albania shares. 'She panics. My mom, my sister, and I rotate care. We make sure someone's always with her.'
Every day is a balance between hope and fear. Sugar's life is now filled with vet visits, bloodwork, scans and medication trials. 'We're watching how she responds to treatment,' Albania says. 'If it helps, we stay the course. If not ... we'll have to make tough choices.'
Among those choices is one that some might see as unconventional. But for Albania, it's one more way to try and understand. 'Next month, I've booked an animal communicator,' she says. 'Call it what you want, a psychic, whatever. But if she can help us understand what Sugar went through, I'll try anything.'
In the description of their GoFundMe page, the family calls Sugar's return 'nothing short of a miracle.'
'Four years ago, we were told Sugar had been hit by a car and believed she was gone forever,' the post reads. 'But this past Sunday, we received an unexpected call from a shelter—Sugar is alive.'
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Donations have helped ease the financial burden, but what's touched Albania the most is the humanity. 'Strangers send us recipes, tips, love,' she says. 'They ask about her. They care. It restored something in me I didn't realize had been lost.'
The future is uncertain. The damage to Sugar's body and maybe her mind may be permanent. 'We lost four years, and I'll never get that time back,' Albania says. 'But I have her now. I have today.'
It's that thought that keeps her going. The small, fragile victories of one more hour, one more day. 'We give her everything we've got,' she says. 'I think she knows that now. At least I hope she does.'
The bond between them, though battered by time and trauma, hasn't broken. If anything, it's become something even deeper.
'Sugar is proof that miracles can happen,' Albania says. 'Even when hope is gone. Your fur babies love you. You're all they have.'
Read the original article on People
