A dog that won an award at the Westminster Kennel Club show this week escaped from its cage at John F. Kennedy International Airport, setting off a search.
The whippet broke free at about noon Wednesday, 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. The airport, in Queens, covers more than 4,900 acres.
Owner Jil Walton told the Daily News that she feared for the dog's life. Vivi, a brown-and-white whippet, was headed to California after the nation's most prestigious dog show.
"When it's cold she's not happy," Walton told the newspaper. "She's a skinny little thing and I don't know if she'll make it. That's what's killing me."
Barbara Nyby, a member of the American Whippet Club in California, said the dog won an award of merit at Westminster. The dog's formal moniker is Bohem C'est La Vie.
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 the 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.
News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.
