Hey New Yorkers...JFK Vacinity...HELP

[Romandachs]

Should you happen to spot her, remember she is VERY scared.
Get down on one knee, and in your friendliest voice, say Vivvy, with hapiness and excitement. She just may come to you and irresistable treats might be worthwhile in coaxing her to you.
Additionally, if you can help, please call the owner and ask if she has had food sat out for her. It is likely VERY cold. I wonder if they have considered a crate big enough for her with some warm bedding, food and water sat out with her familiar smells. She is a sight hound I believe, but she will still know her owners and familiar scents and may be able to smell them a mile away....Please read below, I hope some are in the area and can help!

Sadly the AOM winning Whippet bred by Bo Bengst escaped her kennel
while being loaded at JFK and is missing in the marsh area (or they
think that is where she is)around the airport.

CH BOHEM C'EST LA VIE , HP00810410 4/21/2002. Breeder: Bo Bengtson.
Owned by Jil Walton and Paula Lepiane


If anyone is in the vicinity of John F. Kennedy Airport and can help
please do.

Details are sketchy from the airline but the dog escaped from her
crate and is running somewhere in and aroundJohn F. Kennedy Airport,
Long Island, New York. She is a black, brindle and white female whippet
- call name VIVIE - you can see her picture on this website.
_http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/4321/_
(http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/4321/)

If anyone has tracking dogs or knows of someone who has and could help
this owner track this girl, please contact Barbara Wayne at 954-
971-2920.

Helicopters are circling the airport looking but she has not yet
been spotted and it's been several hours. Any help at all
assisting in looking for Vivie will be greatly appreciated.

[Nancy]

this is so sad. i hope someone finds her.

[Anatresia]

Awww- I hope she finds the right person who will help her get back to her owners!!!:bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz:

[Patt]

Sending :pray: :pray: she will be found soon.

[JanUet]

She still hasn't been found? :faint:
Oh that poor wittle girl. I am still :pray:ing for her safe return!

Why have they not sent out a search party?

[areese]

I think they were searching but gave up. The bad thing is, the longer a dog is out running, the wilder they get and the less likely they are to be caught by a person. I think they need to set some cage traps with food out there. If they do search, they prob. will need to dart the dog with a tranquilizer :(
I'm thinking is even worse cuz a whippet has no coat and can't take the cold. Poor thing. It's just awful.
Last year an well-known agility person crashed her RV on the way to a trial and was killed. One of her dogs escaped and they couldn't catch it for weeks. Peopel from all over came to help. People would see it, but the dog would no longer go to anyone, even people she knew. Thankfully they were able to get her in a trap and she was able to go live with a friend of her owner's. So it can turn out ok. I hope this dog receives the same outpouring of help that the agility dog did...

[LUVMYGUNNER]

I hope they find her.

[Patt]

The following is from Bo Bengtson, Vivi's breeder. He has asked me
to forward to as many dog lists as possible. Permission to forward
to all lists where permitted.

UPDATE ON THE SEARCH FOR VIVI

Following is an update on the search for Vivi, the Whippet who
was lost at JFK Airport on Wednesday morning, Feb. 15. As of Saturday
evening there is still no confirmed sighting, but the search
continues with assistance from the Port Authority, Animal Control and
many concerned helpers.

Since much incorrect and contradictory information has circulated
over the internet and in the media we want to establish the actual
sequence of events. I am sorry this is so long but for my peace of
mind want to get it all on record.

Vivi's owner Jil Walton and her sister checked Vivi in at the
Delta terminal at JFK approx. 9:45 AM on Wednesday morning. She was
travelling in her usual crate in which she has flown many times
before; it has a security bar across the gate (which I find difficult
to open even under normal circumstances). As all who know her are
aware, Vivi is totally unfazed by flying and loves her crate. As far
as is known nothing extraordinary occurred during the check-in. Vivi
was wearing a dark brown/black woollen coat and a broad collar with
Jil's phone number.

When Jil and her sister boarded the plane they saw the crate
being loaded. They then noticed a baggage handler peering into the
crate as if he were looking for something; a few minutes later the
stewardess came up to Jil and told her the crate was empty. Jil and
Jamie immediately disembarked and were told that Vivi had escaped
from her crate at some point between check-in and departure. No one
appeared to know exactly what had happened.

(We do not believe that any airline employee would deliberately
open the crate door, and even if they did Vivi most likely would stay
in her crate. I am personally convinced that the crate must have been
dropped hard enough for the gate to open and for Vivi to be startled
enough to get out. We will most likely never find out what happened.
The crate has been returned and appears undamaged except for the
broken spring lock.)

Vivi was spotted on the runway by Port Authority officials, who
tried to catch her. She was obviously disoriented and took off at top
speed, followed by several Port Authority vehicles. At one point they
managed to corner her, and the officer who approached her (in the
correct manner, kneeling down and talking to her) said she was
obviously panicked and only responded by escaping him. She was last
seen getting through the barbed wire fence which separates the
airport from the marsh and open water. This would have been any time
after check-in but prior to Jil being informed that Vivi was lost.

When Paul and I arrived, after having received a phone call on
our way to the airport approx. 3:00 PM, the airport authorities had
already escorted Jil and Jamie on a search around the entire airport,
with special emphasis on the area where she was last seen. They were
joined on different locations by several other Port Authority
vehicles and helicopters. The airport consists of 4900 acres of
almost completely flat land with only two small areas of dense brush
and trees. Our fear is that Vivi in her panic got too far out into
the water to get back; a Port Authority official searched the marsh
in a wetsuit without finding anything.

Searches of the areas immediately outside the airport during the
afternoon and evening proved fruitless. We had good help from Animal
Control officials, friends and the media, who broadcast the
disappearance and Vivi's photograph more widely than we could ever
have hoped for. The following day Jil, Jamie, Paul and I - in
different groups - were all given permission to search the airport,
accompanied by Port Authority officials. We found no new tracks in
the snow, which by then was already melting: the weather fortunately
has been exceptionally mild for New York in February this week.
Several other vehicles and helicopters were also searching.

A large number of dog lovers and friends, some in groups, helped
by searching the areas around the airport and passing out flyers. By
this time the media coverage had been so extensive that almost
everyone we talked to was aware of the lost Whippet. We gave as many
interviews as possible in the hope that someone might recognize Vivi
if they saw her.

One brief hope on Friday morning was a report that Vivi had been
sighted at 2:00 AM close to a construction site outside the airport.
Since no later sightings have confirmed the first one we believe it
must either be discounted (dozens of other "reported sightings"
turned out to be the wrong dog; Animal Control gets around 700 calls
per day), or that Vivi is hiding in the residential area nearby,
perhaps in a garage or a shed. I spoke to the woman who reported the
sighting and she gave a good description of Vivi, but by this time
her photo had appeared in most of the NY newspapers and on TV.

Paul and Honi Reisman once again gained access to the airport,
with special attention to the areas where Vivi might be hiding, all
of which are highly restricted and normally off limits to anyone
except police and specific airport employees. Traps have been set up
in different areas, inside the airport by the Port Authority and
outside by Animal Control. I accompanied a local journalist for
several hours cruising the streets where Vivi may have been sighted
and asked road crews, gas station attendants and people with dogs if
they had seen her. Everyone knew about Vivi but none had seen her.

With Paul staying behind, I left late Friday and got back to
California at 2:00 AM to take care of my dogs and try to deal with
some work, as well as several hundred emails, faxes and phone
messages from concerned dog lovers. Paul, together with Honi Reisman,
who is providing invaluable support, have been given permission to
search the cargo hangars which are the most likely areas Vivi might
be hiding. Several psychics who have offered their assistance agree
that she is hiding behind what seems to be cargo, that she is safe
but very afraid. There are approx. 150 of these cargo hangars, many
of them abandoned, but all of them heated, and most with openings
which would make it easy for Vivi to get in and out. She can hide
there for a long time. There is no shortage of water but we hope she
will soon get hungry enough to let herself be spotted and eventually
caught.

One very promising fact is that the airport radar spotted a solid
body moving across the runways towards the cargo hangars during the
night. A Port Authority vehice was investigating within minutes but
did not find anything. This appears to support our hope that Vivi may
be hiding in the cargo hangars, however.

We want everyone to know that the search in spite of reports to
the contrary continues unabated, both via helicopter and patrolled
cars. (The perimeter of the airport, included 21 miles of waterfront,
is circumnavigated non-stop every few minutes 24 hours every day of
the year.) The Port Authorities have been exceptionally helpful,
granting unique access for us to search the airport: this is not
easily given, and never to more than two persons at one time. Since
9/11 airport security has tightened a lot, and although we wish that
admittance could be given for Search and Rescue teams, other whippets
or even horses (since Vivi spends most days in a horse barn), we have
to realize that this will not be granted for security reasons. The
Search and Rescue dogs were also called off since the lack of tracks
in the water which covers most of the airport would make their job
impossible.

I am hoping to get back to New York early next week, depending on
the developments. This is a hellish situation which I don't want
anyone to ever have to experience. My only comforts have been my dogs
and the wonderful support we have been given by everyone, both
friends and unknow dog lovers.

On behalf of Vivi's owners, Jil and Paul, I want to thank all of
you for your help and kindness in these trying days. Vivi is lucky
to have so many people who care for her. I hope somehow that she can
feel it, wheverever she is. We are still hoping that there will be a
happy ending and will keep you informed as far as possible. I will
try to get back to everyone who has written personally when I can,
but that will take some time.

I hope the above makes sense. My mind is not functioning really
well right now.

Again, thank you.

Bo Bengtson