There's a rather amazing story in New York about two of the city's medical examiners trying to find their missing puggle. While the article by senior forensic pathologist Jonathan Hayes is titled "Bonfire of the Puggle," it's definitely got the makings of a local Lord of the Rings, as there travels to Tampa, Alphabet City and the Bronx, not to mention gang tattoos and melanoma fear. And since $1,000 was being offered as a reward, there is a happy ending.
But that hasn't been the case with Vivi, the whippet show dog that has been lost since the Westminster Kennel Club show in February. She escaped from her crate at JFK and has been spotted a number of times. Newsday's Denise Flaim has been keeping a blog about Vivi. Flaim doesn't think Vivi is just an urban legend, as an AP story calls her, and neither do the faithful Vivi searchers. In fact, pet detective Karin Goin updated the Vivi Watch; here is part of her report:
In my estimation, it is highly possible that during her trek, ViVi may have become injured and in fact two sightings reported seeing her limping while another explained the dog they saw and believed to be ViVi, looked sick. This in fact was the biggest obstacle ViVi would have had to face. If she had been injured or became ill due to infection, disease or toxic ingestion, it is most likely that she would have retreated to a remote place so she would not be bothered. This is typical behavior when an animal is ill or feeling poorly. Many do not want to be bothered so they retreat away from people. If she needed help, it is not likely she would have allowed it unless she was terribly ill and incapacitated. Most likely she would have needed veterinary care if she was at this level of distress and a vet would have recognized the unique whippet.
Aw, sad.
And people can be very fierce when it comes to their pets. Remember when a lost cat became the center of a court case between her old and new owners?
