Airports can turn into a crazy maze for people coming and going domestically and internationally. With a lot of people leaving and boarding their flights, just looking for your luggage in a sea of backpacks and suitcases could already make you dizzy.
But what if you have lost not just luggage but a 22-month-old American Staffordshire terrier? And not just for a day but for four days?
At Hartfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, a star dog named Gale disappeared from her crate before she gets loaded on to the cargo area of her flight back to Amsterdam. When the airport workers turned their backs, Gale suddenly made her escape, leaving them in a huge pickle.
Gale, a pure-bred American Staffordshire terrier, and her owners visited Louisville, Kentucky to compete in a dog show. But on their flight back to Amsterdam, who would have thought she would make an act of disappearance? And at a crowded airport of all places?
After her human companions heard the news, they immediately turned back from boarding the plane to look for the missing terrier, freaking out. And understandably so. With a place as big and as hectic as the airport and a dog on the loose, catching it won’t be a walk in the park.
The pilots and airport workers joined in the scuffle of locating the dog, reporting the sightings of Gale wandering around the busy airport. Even the ops team and resident wildlife biologist of the airport stepped forward to set traps to catch the runaway dog.
It took four days and the whole airport crew to find the location of Gale. And eventually, after its owner called for the dog, Gale immediately ran to the arms of her owner, proud of her great mischief.
Thanks to our friends from TIME for the original story.
