A Colorado man was reunited with his dog Thursday, several days after Kansas officials lost the pet following a car crash.

Ezra Adams was in a 2022 Dodge Charger driven by his ex-girlfriend Vanessa Lupian Moreno traveling westbound on Interstate 70 with his Siberian husky Cosmo in Kansas City, Kansas, Monday when they struck the trailer of an 18-wheeler entering from Interstate 435, according to a crash report from the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The highway patrol responded to the crash around 6:10 a.m., and Adams and Lupian Moreno were taken to a hospital.

Because he couldn’t bring Cosmo into the ambulance, the highway patrol said they’d bring the dog to Kansas City, Kansas Animal Services and make sure he was cared for.

“I was in the hospital for maybe an hour and a half to two hours,” Adams said, “and it took them less than that to lose my dog.”

Once he was released from the hospital, Adams called Animal Services, who told him that Cosmo was lost and hadn’t made it inside the building.

The highway patrol told Adams they gave Cosmo to a Kansas Transportation Authority employee, who then transported the dog to Animal Services.

The KTA worker tried to move Cosmo into the shelter himself, but Cosmo slipped out of his harness and ran away, said Nancy Chartrand, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. Animal Services recommends that transfers happen in a gated area at the facility so that animals, who may run out of fear, are in a secure area.

The Kansas Highway Patrol didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Searching for Cosmo

In the days after Cosmo went missing, the police department contacted KC Dog Trappers, a volunteer organization that paid for a hotel room for Adams and helped him search for his dog. Police also alerted the public on social media to look for Cosmo.

Many callers reached out, saying they had seen Cosmo around the area, Chartrand said.

KC Dog Trappers placed a series of safe traps based on where the public had seen Cosmo, and eventually found him near Animal Services Thursday. The organization also had Adams place his jackets and other items that would have his scent on them around town to lure Cosmo.

Before their reunion Thursday afternoon, Animal Services equipped Cosmo with ID tags and a well-fitting harness and collar, Chartrand said.

Adams said Cosmo was dirty but appeared to be healthy and safe. Once they were reunited, he gave Cosmo a bath at his hotel, and the dog fell asleep shortly after.

Adams was traveling with Cosmo from Charlotte, North Carolina to Denver, where he was supposed to start a new job Tuesday as a chef at Coors Field. Because he stayed in Kansas to search for his dog, Adams missed his work orientation and lost the opportunity.

While Cosmo was missing, Adams reported the issues he had to police and the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office.

Adams said he’s owned the Husky for nearly three years since he was a puppy, and plans to have him registered as an emotional support animal when they return to Colorado. Cosmo is a sweet dog who gets spoiled with everything he could want, Adams said.

He feels the highway patrol and transportation authority acted negligently when they lost Cosmo, and that their actions cost him his job. Adams plans to look for a lawyer and do what he can to hold the officials accountable.

“I want them to pay for this,” he said. “This is absolutely ridiculous. It’s not professional, it’s not honorable, it’s not nothing. I never had nothing happen to me like this in my life where it’s government officials’ fault that I’m going through what I’m going through.”