ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – From Turkey With Love: It might sound like a twist on a James Bond film. But as it turns out, St. Louis has emerged as a hub for adoptions of dogs abandoned overseas.

Jan Knoche with Love a Golden Rescue in St. Louis said her organization specializes in giving homes to Golden Retrievers. The dogs, once loved in Istanbul Turkey, are often abandoned.

“It was a status to have a Golden puppy,” Knoche said. “We’ve heard that people would go on vacation and get a golden puppy. And when they were finished with their vacation they would just leave the puppy, turn it into the local shelter.”

The St. Louis organization recently contacted Love a Golden in Atlanta, which made it possible for St. Louis and another Midwest city to bring the dogs to the United States.

Josie, a three-year-old Golden Retriever, immediately made an impression when she arrived.

“They come here from Turkey. They don’t know any English. They don’t know our ways. But they know love,” her owner, Theresa Dattilo, said.