Mexican Adoption Dog Slips Collar & Escapes at Victoria Airport Sandra McCulloch - Times Colonist
go to original November 11, 2013

Zander, who is seven months old, flew in with two other dogs from Mexico. Photo by Facebook

A former Mexican street dog got free of his collar Saturday and is at large on the grounds of the Victoria International Airport, too skittish to approach those who desperately want him back.

“We’ve had a lot of sightings, we know where he is, but he’s being really elusive,” said Karen Munroe of Mexpup Canada.

Munroe and others spent Saturday night and Sunday at the airport trying to track the fearful dog.

Zander, who is seven months old, flew in with two other dogs from Mexico. The two other dogs were taken away by their adoptive families, and Zander was heading to a foster home.

“They were putting a harness on him, and he just started wiggling and freaking and managed to get out of his collar,” Munroe said.

The collar had a Mexpup identification tag on it. Zander currently has a harness halfway on, Munroe said.

“He’s an absolute sweetheart, but he’s so, so nervous,” Munroe said.

The best thing is not to approach him, especially with your own dogs, she said.

A live trap is set up with rotisserie chicken inside “because he likes it.”

She’s confident that when the commotion of the searchers dies down he will come out from wherever he is hiding.

“He has been spotted throughout the day [Sunday],” Munroe said. “The last sighting was in the departure area, but he’s been seen in the staff parking lot as well as where the car rentals are.”

There are volunteers monitoring the live trap and others along the access roads to the airport to prevent him from leaving the area.

This the first time one of the Mexpup dogs has escaped at Victoria airport, Munroe said. Another of their dogs fled at San Francisco airport 18 months ago, but it was recaptured.

Anyone spotting Zander is asked to call 778-440-3435 or 1-250-701-9111 or 250-888-9707.

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