February 22, 2006

Volunteers still searching JFK for missing whippet

Despite nights of freezing temperatures, the search continues around Kennedy Airport for Vivi, the 3-year old whippet lost one week ago on her way home from the Westminster Kennel Club show.

Although the official search was called off about 24 hours after she went missing last Wednesday, volunteers and some airport employees have continued looking.

The latest update on the search was posted today on Whippet View. "The Port Authority agreed to allow access for a Search & Rescue team, with the costs generously donated by Westminster Kennel Club, for which we are immensely grateful," states the note signed by breeder Bo Bengtson.

The encouraging news from the search yesterday, she writes, "was that some dog feces were found close to a building which is a little remote from the rest of the cargo area -- exactly where both psychics and common sense tell us Vivi would hang out."

Vivi, whose full registered name is Champion Bohem C'est La Vie, received an award of merit in last week’s annual Westminster Kennel Club competition held at Madison Square Garden. Preparing for the Delta Airlines return flight to Californian with her owner, the dog somehow escaped. The note at Whippet View explains the airline’s actions since:

We have so far been very careful not to lay undue blame for Vivi’s loss on Delta Airlines: nobody knows exactly how she got loose, and we have focused on trying to find Vivi. However, the fact is that the dog was lost while in their care. Individual Delta employees have been helpful with transportation, hotel rooms, etc. but the airline has in no way offered to participate in the search after the first day (when one Delta employee drove with Jil in the Port Authority car on the initial search). Joan Goldstein has been calling Delta officials and spoke with one executive and his secretary, who were sympathetic but would give no information whatsoever, not even whether an internal investigation was going on. I called the same number today and left a message with both my telephone numbers to the receptionist but the call was not returned although I was promised it would. I will try again tomorrow.

February 22, 2006 12:55 PM in Arrivology

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