[ SHOWGSD-L ] - The latest on Vivi the Whippet in NY
- From: VSabiaB@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 12:47:04 EST
Animal Rescuers Say Press Attention On Missing Show Dog May Aid Search
By DAVID LOMBINO - Staff Reporter of the NY Sun
February 17, 2006
The frenzied press attention surrounding a lost dog at John F. Kennedy
International Airport is likely to work in the animal's favor, an animal rescue
expert said yesterday.
The 3-year-old whippet, which received a merit award at this week's
Westminster Dog Show, evaded handlers as it was set to board a Los
Angeles-bound Delta flight Wednesday, and was last seen running through
marshland toward Jamaica Bay.
The long and skinny 40-pound dog, named "Champion Bohem C'est La Vie," is
commonly called Vivi. According to press reports, Vivi is
wearing a black wool sweater and a collar that displays the owner's phone
number.
Yesterday, the Port Authority toned down a vigorous search across the
airport's 5,000 acres that included the use of a helicopter. The
Port Authority is now instructing its officers to keep an eye out for the
animal as part of their regular security patrols.
A spokesman for the Port Authority, Alan Hicks, characterized the previous
search as "part of their normal duties to help people at the airport in need."
He said the Port Authority regularly patrols the airport grounds by
helicopter for security reasons and that officers on the patrol were
asked to look for the missing dog as part of that duty.
Mr. Hicks said there were "no extra people put on. Those people are there."
Officers from the Center of Animal Care and Control, a nonprofit under
contract to carry out a wide variety of animal-related duties
for the city, are patrolling the areas in and around the airport to which
they have access.
The director of field operations for the center, Michael Pastore, said
finding Vivi "is kind of like finding a needle in a haystack.
The airport is such a vast area."
"It's a fast breed, and we don't know what kind of stress this animal has
been under, from the show, the noise of the jets," Mr. Pastore said. "But
simultaneously, you couldn't ask for a better
scenario because of all the media attention the animal has gotten.
That has got to help."
Mr. Pastore said that about 10 years ago another dog escaped handlers at JFK
and was never returned to its owner.
A co-owner of Vivi, Jil Walton, told The New York Sun in a telephone
interview from the Holiday Inn near JFK that she was first alerted
of her missing dog as she sat on the airplane, waiting to fly home to
California on an 11:55 a.m. flight on Wednesday.
"They couldn't catch her. They were chasing her around the tarmac and running
along the fence line trying to catch her," Ms. Walton
said. "She's just not thinking at all. She's a very friendly dog."
A spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines, Chris Kelly, said the airline is
conducting an internal investigation to determine why and how Vivi
escaped.
Ms. Kelly said airline employees had initially been involved in the search
for most of the day yesterday, but had since handed over the
task to "local authorities."
An officer for Police Precinct 106 in Ozone Park, Queens, the precinct that
patrols the area surrounding the airport, said it was
not involved in the search.
Meanwhile, her owners said Thursday that they will stay put in New York until
their pet is found. The couple, presently staying at a
Holiday Inn hotel located near the airport, reportedly haven't eaten or slept
since Vivi escaped.
The Long Island Breeders Coalition has been granted permission by the Port
Authority to use their dogs to search for Vivi. 45,000 JFK
employees are on alert too.
Hicks said: "Security officers will continue to keep their eyes open for the
dog during their regular rounds."
Bo Bengston, dog's breeder, said: "I'm just hoping that she's hiding in the
wooded area. If she headed south through a fence into the
marshland the cold water would be bad for her. The most horrible thing would
be cold water. It could mean the worst."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Vicki
Von Charisma German Shepherds
http://members.aol.com/VAbby17801/VCGShepherds.html
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