While Vivi continues her game of hide-and-seek, a couple of admonishments:
Please, please do not call the Port Authority and yell at them, pleads Honi Reisman, one of only two people who is escorted by the agency every day to search the airport's off-limits areas where the champion whippet might be hiding. "They have been tremendous in their efforts, more than we could ever expect of this type of agency," she says. "Outside people have no idea what the Port Authority has been doing to help" -- and the last thing the searchers need is to have their relationship with the agency imperiled.
And, second, resist the urge to conspiracy-theorize. A story on amNY.com indicated that Vivi's crate had a broken latch, but this does not mean that someone broke in to steal her. For those who have never shipped a dog, the crates cannot be locked, because airline personnel have to be able to access the animal in case of an emergency. The general consensus is that the crate was likely dropped or otherwise jostled, breaking its spring mechanism and busting the lock.
As a safety precaution, many owners drill a hole into the crate plastic adjacent to the lock, then thread a heavyweight plastic tie wrap through it and securing it to the metal grid door. It can be cut with scissors in an emergency.
