‘Lucky’ dog seen rescued from canal returning home to grateful owner this week

EL PASO, Texas — The dog that was rescued from drowning in the canal by the city’s water rescue team will be heading home to their grateful owner on Tuesday. 

The dog’s name is Nova, and she is a 2-year-old German Shepherd/Pit bull mix. 

Her owner, Suzan Rivera, says Nova ran away from home on the Fourth of July after fireworks spooked her into jumping over their five-foot-tall fence. She added Nova was spotted multiple times throughout the past week, but they could not catch her. 

Rivera said she was miserable while Nova was gone. Her dog helped her through a tough time in life and is always a companion for her mom, who is battling cancer. Rivera said she started losing hope that she would ever see Nova again, but then she saw the news of Nova’s rescue from the canal. 

“I’m eternally grateful. Thank you for saving her and she’s going to be home soon,” Rivera said with tears in her eyes. 

Nova was rescued almost 9 miles from her home. The two will be reunited on Tuesday, more than a week after she went missing. 

Rivera says she will be giving the middle name, “Lucky,” to her four-legged friend.