Westminster Dog Still On The Loose At JFK
Port Authority Police Have Been Searching Since Noon
(AP) QUEENS A dog that won an award in this week's Westminster Kennel Club show escaped from its cage at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday and was believed to be on the loose in the surrounding area, authorities said.
The dog, a whippet, broke free at about noon, said Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area airports.
Port Authority police were working with its owners to search the area where planes arrive and depart, she said.
"They're looking every possible place they can to see if they can locate the dog," Townsend said.
She said she didn't know where the dog's cage had been when it escaped or where its owners had been heading. The airport, in Queens, covers more than 4,900 acres.
Barbara Nyby, a member of the American Whippet Club in California, said the dog was Bohem C'est La Vie, known as Vivy, though that spelling could not be confirmed. The dog won an award of merit at Westminster, the nation's most prestigious dog show.
The dog's owners were listed as Jil Walton and Paul Lepiane, of Ojai, Calif.
The dog had been booked on a Delta Air Lines Inc. flight. Atlanta-based Delta said it was working with local authorities to retrieve the animal.
More than 2,600 dogs were entered in this year's show at Madison Square Garden, including 25 whippets, a short-haired athletic dog similar to a greyhound. Best in Show went to Rufus, a colored bull terrier with an egg-shaped head.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.Psychics called in to look for dog (CBS) QUEENS With few physical clues to the whereabouts of an escaped show dog, the hunt for the award-winning whippet has entered another realm.
About 12 psychics are counseling searchers as they check the heated cargo buildings near where Vivi escaped from a travel cage at Kennedy International Airport, Paul Lepiane, the dog's co-owner, told Newsday for Tuesday editions.
"They are telling us that she is alive, and they are telling us she is warm," said Honi Reisman, a friend of the dog's owners. "They are saying she's in a building -- but there are hundreds of buildings."
According to breeder Bo Bengtson, the animal bolted across the tarmac last week at 25 mph as workers chased her on foot and in three cars. The 3-year-old whippet, also known as Champion Bohem C'est La Vie, nosed into a marsh area and disappeared.
The dog's escape came within days of winning an award of merit at the Westminster Kennel Club show, the nation's most prestigious.
Lepiane said dog droppings consistent with the 30-pound whippet's were found Monday behind an airport cargo building. He has announced a $5,000 reward for Vivi.
The 3-year-old whippet apparently escaped her travel cage on the JFK tarmac as she was about to be put aboard a plane for the flight home to California.
Vivi was wearing a black wool sweater and a collar with her owner's phone number. She also has an inserted microchip with contact information.
More than 2,600 dogs were entered in the Westminster show at Madison Square Garden, including 25 whippets, a sleek, short-haired breed similar to a greyhound.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report
