Animal House

From today's email, from katsridge@aol.com:

<<Help needed in the Seattle Washington Airport area.  16 month old Red Wheaten Show Male Rhodesian Ridgeback call name Rhett got loose outside at the Seattle Washington Airport today 8/22/2007 at 11:00am.

Dare we dream?

Bonnie Folz sends this report:

<<A man saw what he believes to be Vivi on Saturday, just off the west-bound Northern Boulevard exit off the Van Wyck Expressway. He is a limo driver and remembers seeing the flier around La Guardia airport (thanks to our airport team member for making sure the airport lots are always covered).

Kathy “Bayside” contacted the caller for more info on Monday and emailed him the two photo line-up sheets. He picked Vivi out of both.

The out-of-town team has already begun another round of faxing and emailing businesses in the area. The location of the sighting has already been canvassed and it is a difficult spot to get to by car and you need to be careful if you park and walk as traffic whizzes by.  Some of the Vivi Team are out right now searching and will post around the area and repost Flushing Meadow Park and around Shea Stadium.

Guess the motion sensor cameras will be getting new batteries.

The man originally said the dog was the size of a German Shepherd, dirty white coat, brownish markings, and very skinny, but, then again, he did pick Vivi out of the line-ups.  There’s ALWAYS a possibility.

We can only hope and pray.>>

  Theresa Hoang, the owner of runaway Gracie, sent an email to Team Vivi members thanking them for their help -- from posting fliers to calling veterinarians -- which ultimately made the Italian greyhound's ending a happy one.

"I would like to specially thank all of you for your tremendous help and support" when Gracie was wandering the streets of Brooklyn, she wrote. "I have never seen such a coordinated effort ... I [would love it] if we could meet each other some day."

Meanwhile, as these photos show, Gracie has returned to her life in New Jersey without missing a beat.

  Gracie, the Italian Greyhound from New Jersey who was lost in mid-July on Brooklyn's not-so-mean streets, has been found!

Owner Theresa Hogang found out earlier this month that Gracie was taken in by a woman named Maria, who in turn gave the 4-year-old Iggy to an acquaintance named Kevin. The only information Maria had about him was that he was in his mid-20s and lives in Park Slope.

Vivi search coordinator Bonnie Folz, who had been keeping in close touch with Theresa (as have many Vivi-ites), emailed this morning with the rest of the story:

Turns out Kevin is not Kevin at all, but a fellow named Barry who had seen the fliers of Gracie posted, but didn't think they pertained to his new dog -- until a friend set him straight.

He called Theresa last night and she headed out to meet him, steeling herself for what could have been a crank call. (There have been several.)

Instead, she found her dog.

"As soon as Gracie found her family, she leaped into Theresa's daughters' arms!" Bonnie says.

The reunited family returned to New Jersey at 4 a.m., and have scheduled a visit to the veterinarian today to tend to Gracie's paw pads, which, are still in  bad shape from her Brooklyn adventure. She will be microchipped when she is there, too.

Bonnie had the best kicker for this story: "One can never give up hope."

From Vivi search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<The Vivi Crusade

The goal of the Vivi Crusade is to make air travel safer for pets. The Vivi Crusade came about after Vivi the whippet, CH Bohem’s C’est la Vie, was lost while in the care of Delta Airlines at

JFK

Vivi is still missing.

In 2005, the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act was put into play. Also known as the “Boris Bill”, named after Barbara Listenik’s dog, who was lost during transport via the airlines, requires that airlines must report on all pets lost, injured or killed while in their care.

This reporting is posted monthly on the USA Department of Transportation web site: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/index.htm

Unfortunately, this past May, Ezra Malek’s cat, Tiger, was lost at the

Atlanta

This incident was not listed on the DOT’s Air Consumer report for the month of May.

Fortunately, the number of pets lost, injured or killed since the reporting process began, is approximately 100 incidents. However, one pet that is lost, injured or killed during airline transport, is one too many. Granted, some of the incidents that have been reported were at no fault of the airlines, but through better education of airline employees and educating the pet owners, fewer incidents may happen.

Also, as part of the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act, all airline employees must be trained in the proper handling of pets while in their care. Through numerous correspondences from many people, who have used the airlines for their pet’s transport, we are finding out that there doesn't seem to be much training at all.

We've also come to find that many pets that are lost during their flights are either lost or misplaced somewhere within the airport/terminal or they were mistakenly shipped to another airport. There seems to be no real tracking done on the crates these pets are traveling in and much confusion and heartache to the pet’s owner when these type of incidents occur. So far, we have not seen any of these types of incidents reported by the airlines. It appears the airline reporting is only done if the animal is NOT recovered and the lost pet incident, whether it's lost for an hour or a day, does NOT get reported.

The Vivi Crusade needs your help to gather information on any and all incidents of injured, killed or lost pets, even if the pet was lost for a short period of time and whether or not there was no report filed by the owner.

With pets becoming a more popular part of people’s families and more pet friendly travel destinations becoming available, it is imperative we work together to get these changes made.

Please forward the Vivi Crusade Questionnaire to as many animal lovers as possible; all dog and cat fanciers, clubs and organizations, breeders, veterinarians, pet supply stores, etc., in every city of every state, so that we can gather information, educate pet owners and help the Vivi Crusade make air travel safer for pets.  All pet lovers should be contacted.

The Vivi Crusade will work together with the airlines, various other agencies and crate manufacturers, etc. to make this happen.

Professional and conscious consideration and education are key.

A cover letter and the questionnaire to be sent out can be found on our web site www.vivicrusade.org  Please check back on the web site, as it is still under construction and more information and links will be posted going forward. 

We will ask that Denise Flaim continue to post updated information of the Vivi Crusade on the Newsday Animal House blog www.newsday.com/animalhouse

For more information about transporting animals, please visit:

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/animals.htm

Together, we will make a difference.

Keeping the faith and making a difference

Bonnie>>

The Vivi search raised whippet awareness all over the country -- indeed, the world. So, in the spirit of that:

Recently, scientists announced that they had identified the genetic mutation responsible for "bully" whippets -- dogs that are unnaturally well muscled. If you've never seen an example of one, click here for a photo of Wendy the Whippet. Ahnold has nothing on her.

A day-brightening email from Bonnie Folz:

<<To the Vivi Team Volunteers,

Last night I attended the annual awards dinner for one of the many clubs I am very proud to be a member of, for quite a few years: the Nassau / Suffolk Owner Handlers Association.

Seated at our table for the evening were a few of my very close friends and students that attend the awards dinner with me each year, as well as my dear friend, Denise Flaim.

The food was delish and raffles were being won left and right at our table, as is the case each year, and we were having a very nice time whooping and hollering as our winning ticket numbers were called.

Each year, awards are given out to those members who have competed and achieved titles with their dogs. These awards are very special as they convey the commitment each owner has to the training and teamwork associated with competing in various events. I am proud to say I’ve been the recipient of these awards throughout the years as I competed with my furkids.

The top award is presented to the chapter’s Owner Handler of The Year. As I was bragging to those at my table about being close friends with two former Owner Handler of The Year award winners, one being Denise, our chapter’s club president, Susan Meluzin, began talking about this year’s recipient, and the wonderful commitment of time dedicated this past year. Bonnie Folz, were the next words I heard as Susan turned to me with a smile on her face. OMG!!!! ME??? I could not believe it (and still can’t)!! I was almost in tears as got up to accept the award for all of the work I’d done to help with Vivi’s search and continuing to do with the Vivi Crusade.

The beautiful, etched award reads "For Outstanding Contribution To The Sport Of Dogs 2006 Bonnie Folz." I cannot tell you how very proud and honored I am to receive this award!

I was (and still am) so excited, once the presentation was complete, I snuck outside to jump up and down, call Honi, and share the award and the news. I told Honi that she too should be included on this award as Honi has been my sounding board, my (sometimes) voice of reason (o: and pretty much my go-to-gal and right arm throughout these past 16 months. With all that we’ve gone through, and continue to strive for, Honi has become one of my very dear and close friends.

As I started to come down from cloud twelve, I came to realize that this award should include the names of ALL OF YOU, Team Vivi Volunteers, who have helped in Vivi’s search and saved so many animals this past year. Though it is only my name on the award, I and we, could never have done all that we did and continue to do were it not for each other’s support.

Like they say, there is no "I" in "TEAM." So to all of the Team Vivi Volunteers, I am very proud to say, congratulations to you for your Outstanding Contribution to The Sport of Dogs!

If anyone is looking for me, I’ll be on cloud nine.

Keeping the faith and making a difference.

Bonnie>>

From search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<Vivi Update – May 8, 2007

If you haven't already, you might want to check out the beautifully written ESPN piece on "The Church of Barbaro." Vivi, in many respects, was the canine version of this inspirational thoroughbred.

Yesterday was a time for smiles, and tears.

Several dozen Vivi searchers and devotees converged on Long Island yesterday afternoon for a luncheon in their honor. Intended as a special thank-you from Vivi's owner Jil Walton and her husband Rick Patterson, who flew in especially for the occasion, it was held at the lovely home of Honi and Carol Reisman.

Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson, and her co-owner, Paul Lepiane, were in China, but they were there in spirit.

The gathering was a chance to reminisce, and to socialize together in a different context: I don't believe I have ever had a chance to see Tina and Rosa when it didn't involve driving the bumpy streets of Queens. (Although Rick admitted he now considers no visit to New York complete without a visit to the Blue Bay Diner.) Honi, Carol and Jil set out a fabulous spread. (No plastic plates here, and salmon to die for!) Bonnie took time out during the gathering to check in on searchers for India the missing pharaoh in Alabama.

It was a bittersweet gathering, as it happened to fall on Vivi's fifth birthday. There was a lovely cake with Vivi's photo on it, and Jil said a very few words, because the tears were starting to well. But her message was heartfelt and profound: Thank you for everything you have done. What else is there to say?

Then Jil handed out some lovely thank-you gifts for all the searchers: Beautiful medallions with Vivi's photo, and the words "Keep the faith" on the back. (Now it was Bonnie who fought back tears.)

Imagine my surprise when Jil handed me a lovely plaque, with the same Vivi photo, as a thank-you for keeping Vivi's story alive. Actually, it is I who should be grateful, for meeting such an inspirational and dedicated group of animal lovers, near and far. Despite the blips and brickbats that hit this blog periodically, that basic sense of unconditional caring still remains.

I could have stayed for hours, talking dogs, catching up and soaking in the decor. (Anyone who can mix Mexican day of the dead statues in the same room with German borzoi porcelains has Martha beat in my book any day of the week.) But my three kids and four Ridgebacks were waiting at home, so I bid everyone goodbye.

As I left, I caught a glimpse of the photos Jil had passed around of the new 14-acre homestead she and Rick have bought in Montana. It's life: People move on, life changes.

There were also shots of Vivi's new sister, a black-faced Jack Russell mix with a mischievous glint in her eye. Jil said she hopes to extend their canine family with a deerhound in the future, and of course she wants a whippet. But she can't bring herself to get one, because she already has one, and somewhere deep inside, she hasn't let go of the possibility that Vivi is out there, sitting in someone's living room, waiting to be found.

I think some of us know exactly how she feels.

Happy birthday, Vivi.

From search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<Sorry to say, there is no new information to report in the search for Vivi.

The Vivi Team and Out-Of-Town volunteers continue to post, mail, e-mail and send faxes that Vivi is still missing. Even though there have not been many updates, volunteers are still out there. There’s just nothing to report on. Feeding stations and cameras have been set up since the last “sighting” in Forest Park over a month ago, but the photos show only a small pack of dogs (from the nearby cemetery that we got on camera during the summer), as well as resident cats, raccoons, possum, rats, squirrels and birds. Thanks to Sophia and Angelo, from A&S Pet Supply in Ozone Park, for their generous donation of food. I loaded up the “Vivi van” and distributed food to the volunteers monitoring the feeding stations as well as a number of other rescue organizations. (Now my minivan no longer does wheelies when I hit the gas!)

With the lack of calls coming in of Vivi being seen wandering the streets, many of the volunteers feel she may have been picked up by someone, either not knowing she’s someone’s beloved pet or they just do not want to return her, or ... We received a good number of calls recently of people seen “walking” Vivi. Though a few of these have been checked and verified it was NOT Vivi these people saw, being in the right place at the right time to try and get a glimpse of these people walking the dog again is next to impossible.

I received a call from Paul Lepiane, Vivi’s co-owner, on Tuesday. He just got a call from, Ryan, a man in upstate, NY. Ryan lost his female Aussie/Border Collie mix, Haylee, about 8 weeks ago and had put out fliers and ads of his lost dog in the newspaper up that way. (see Haylee’s flyer below/attached) A woman called to say she’d like to help him search for his dog and asked him to bring her some fliers to her home. When Ryan got there and delivered the fliers, the woman told him he should change the format of the flier so the info would stand out a bit more and showed him one of Vivi’s fliers. Ryan thought it very strange that this woman, showing him Vivi’s flier had a dog that looked just like Vivi there in her house! Ryan asked Paul if Vivi had a tattoo in her ear as the dog this woman had, with the same coloring/markings as Vivi, had a bandage around its head and he thought this woman may have been covering up something.

I assured Paul I’d follow up with Ryan. After speaking with Ryan and getting the information on what he thought and saw, I remembered we have a couple of volunteers, Michelle and her sister Sylvie, that live upstate (though I have no clue where) and that they do own a whippet, named Winston. I told Ryan that many whippets have the same coloring (white and brindle). I mentioned that Michelle was one of our volunteers and strangely, he said the woman he saw was also named Michelle. Ryan forwarded me the address and phone number of the woman he suspected of having Vivi. Me, not having our volunteer, Michelle’s info at work with me, I contacted Rosa to get her number. Well, I called Michelle and yes, it was her that Ryan saw that night! Her dog Winston, got into a tiff with another dog and had his ear chomped, hence the bandaged ear. So glad Ryan took the initiative to call. So glad Michelle and Sylvie are helping to find his lost dog. Small world, huh?

We urge anyone that does believe they are seeing Vivi to photograph her right away (this is where those cell phone cameras come in handy) and email the photos to me at Pawsativebf@aol.com.

One call that came in this week was from a man that believed he saw Vivi laying dead on the shoulder of the Jackie Robinson Parkway. He couldn’t be sure it was her as it was during rush hour traffic. This is the second time during the past year I went out on a call like this and I dreaded what I might find. With my nerves frazzled and my mind racing, I was comforted to have Kathy “Bayside” keep me calm on the phone as I made my way onto the parkway. Driving very slow with my hazard lights on, I came up on the dog. Thankfully it was not Vivi but unfortunately it was, what appeared to be, a pit bull, white with black markings. I was told one of the volunteers had seen a lost dog flyer up in the neighborhood that could possibly be for this dog but we couldn’t locate it to check and see if in fact this may have been their dog.

On a happier note, Team Vivi rescued another four dogs the past few weeks. One, just this afternoon! A young German Shepherd dog was found running in a park. After over an hour of coaxing, he was caught and brought to a local rescue, Sean Casey Animal Rescue, to be put up for adoption. (I believe he found a forever home this week) Two Dalmatians that were found running in a park in Valley Stream, were captured by Barbara Jean and brought to a local vet. These dogs were happily reunited with their owner a day or so later.

Today, as the Vivi Team were getting together to do some posting, they came across a older dog laying in a yard, very dirty and in need of rescue as the dog did not belong to the homeowners. The gals gathered him up and brought him to Sean Casey’s Animal Rescue shelter. These dogs were left, with a donation from those that delivered them to the rescue. I cannot begin to tell you what an incredibly amazing group of volunteers these ladies are!

Myself and a few other Vivi volunteers have been doing research to put our plans in motion to get the Vivi Bill underway. Unfortunately, this is a slow process and the changes we’d like to make will affect many people and agencies throughout the country. All must be considered. This is not something we want to bulldoze anyone on and it is better to work WITH as many of these groups and agencies as possible to make these safety changes reality. Right now, educating as many people as we can, using the “Urgent Message” that we put together, as well as other info which can be obtained on-line, is what will help others safely transport their pets via the airlines. Some of the airlines already have fairly good procedures in place, others are very lax.

Below is a quick list of issues I put together. These are still to be discussed with the other volunteers working on the Vivi Bill and nothing is cut in stone as they must be revised, elaborated on and have to be workable for ALL involved i.e., the passengers, airlines, airports and other agencies but most of all make a difference to safely transport/fly our pets.

Safe transport of dogs issues

Educate any and ALL persons that will be handling the crate/pet at the airport.

Airline safe crates need to be manufactured to allow for zip ties or some other way of better securing the crate. Or, possibly manufacturing a more sturdy/ secure crate.

When purchasing a ticket for air travel, owners should be made to purchase a package which would include safety information on how the animal will be handled, an information sticker with specific owner information to adhere to the crate (i.e. type of dog, owner name, destination, phone numbers and any pertinent info) the closest airport emergency veterinarian information for each destination.

Ticket agents must be made aware of how to accept crates for transport.

TSA’s inspection must be done in a secure area.

Once TSA’s sticker is placed on the crate, NO ONE is to open the crate unless the owner is notified first.

Owners must stay with dog /crate until it is loaded onto the plane.

All baggage handlers handling crates must follow guidelines on handling crates and dogs.

Confirmation that the dog has been loaded onto the plane must be made by more than one person. Confirmation information must be forwarded to pilot/crew before plane takes off.

If a connecting flight is to be made, the same procedures of confirmation must be taken.

If a conveyer belt is used to load or off load the crate , the crate must somehow be secured to conveyer belt so there is no chance of if falling off.

Crates should be brought to a secure area for pick-up NOT in the baggage claim area.

Some sort of identification/baggage claim ticket MUST be presented to pick-up the dog/crate.

Emergency veterinarian information MUST be made available to ticket agents, security and baggage handlers in case of emergency.

Baggage and ramp personnel should be made aware not to chase a dog if it does happen to get out of its crate.

The above are based on unfortunate incidents that have happened to people transporting their pets in the past. I’m sure there are more issues that could be added but this is what we have so far and again, this is all in the early stages.

I encourage any and all input on these ideas/issues and also, if anyone has a story to tell of an incident, good or bad, that they have had transporting their pets on an airplane, please forward them to me at Pawsativebf@aol.com.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support, words of encouragement and prayers for Vivi. We continue to hold out hope that some day she will be reunited with Jil and Rick.

Keeping the faith and making a difference.

LOST DOG HAYLEE CALL: (607) 206-8931 Female 50 lbs Australian Shepherd Mix Brown, black and speckled white Last seen near Broome-Tioga Cy line in Crest View Heights in Jan. NEEDS MEDICATION REWARD

Bonnie >>

A nice job covering the Vivi phenom, and retracing some old tracks:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=vivi

A year ago today, the disappearance of a pretty little wisp of a whippet prompted me to use this blog to help keep people up to date on rescue efforts. It became inextricably linked with this spunky little show dog, who had a knack for capturing hearts as effortlessly as she did ribbons.

A year later, and still no Vivi. But in the meantime, this blog has become a place for dog lovers to come for the latest news -- even if that is that there is no news.

I still leave room for the hope that a page-one "Vivi Found" story lurks around the bend. I hope you do, too, if only because it's nice to believe in happy endings -- and to believe in believing.

If you were at Westminster on Tuesday, you might have seen search coordinator Bonnie Folz tooling around with the hottest accessory for the Vivi faithful: the Vivi bag.

Rich chocolate brown with hot-pink accents, the glossy-paper tote bags have a photo of the missing Westminster whippet, along with the hot line number: 877-JFK-VIVI.

The bags are $5.95, and can also be ordered in bulk. A portion of proceeds will benefit two local no-kill rescue groups: Bide-a-Wee in Manhattan and Bobbi & the Strays in Queens.

Visit vivibags.com, or call (201) 265-0014.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this on:

<<Rosa got a call of a sighting tonight [Monday, Feb. 5] at 10:30 p.m. The president of the Forest Park Dog Run, called to say he believes he saw Vivi around the picnic area by the band shell in Forest Park while walking his dog. His dog is who actually spotted Vivi first and the dog was about 20 foot away from his dog.  I was just finishing up my training class. I called and spoke with the man (a former student, owns an Irish Wolfhound) and asked if he could pick the dog he saw out of a line-up?  He said he thought it was a saluki at first and it looked beige in color.  When I asked him about any markings he said he couldn't be sure because it was dark and the dog ran off.  But he believes it was our dog.  I finished at class and one of my friends/students followed me up to Forest Park to the area of the sighting.  We met up with Gail, got out with flash lights and looked around but it's got to be below zero and the wind was just too much for us to stay out too long.  We all headed back to our cars and canvassed the area and some surrounding blocks.  Gail and I met up with Rosa and her room mate Wendy at the bandshell parking lot, discussed the sighting and where the dog could have gone for shelter.  Being it was sighted not far from the hole in the fence of the golf course where we once had a feeding station set up and the camera was stolen, the dog very well could have ducked back into the golf course and is hiding out there.  It got to be too late so I left Gail, Rosa and Wendy, drove around the golf course parameter and headed home.  Gail and Rosa were going to put out some food for the dog in case it was hungry.  Guess the Forest Park area needs to be posted again. >>

Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson, sends this on:

<<SHIPPING DOGS: “SECURITY CHECKS” PROVIDE “NEW” RISK?

The following recent experience exposed an obvious risk in shipping dogs and other pets and could, I hope, be used as a catalyst for change and new federal regulations in how animals are treated while in transit.

On Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, I went to LAX to ship a Whippet puppy to Florida. It was the first time since Vivi’s disappearance almost exactly a year ago that I shipped a dog, which only affects the following in so far as I was pretty nervous about the experience and had spent a lot of time preparing for it. We had several plastic “zip-ties” to secure the crate and signs with the dog’s name, “DO NOT OPEN!” etc. The puppy, Griffin, is a nearly six-month-old son of Vivi’s older half brother, Chili.

I chose American Airlines because their web site impressed me as being very sensible and dog-friendly with a lot of specific information. Griffin was booked on non-stop flight AA262 departing at 9:25 PM and arriving in Fort Lauderdale at 5:10 AM local time. He was shipped Priority Parcel, which meant that we had to bring him to the AA baggage area at LAX. The airline staff was very helpful and considerate; they actually remembered the Vivi incident even though that involved another airline and a different airport.

With the crate checked and approved, and all paperwork done, we secured the gate with the zip-ties. Griffin was totally unconcerned and only focused on playing with his chew toy. Having paid the shipping charge we saw the crate being loaded on a cart and wheeled out; we were ready to leave the building when — by pure chance and because the cargo employee with the cart returned to the front desk — we overheard him saying that “Security wants to open the crate again.”

Obviously airport security staff works independenly from the airlines, and obviously they have the right to inspect any piece of luggage as they feel is necessary at any time. Reasoning with an unsmiling security officer exercising her authority was useless. The upshot was that the zip-ties had to be cut, the gate opened and Griffin taken out of the crate while the officer inspected the crate. Since I could hold the puppy in my arms, all went well – in spite of the fact that the inspection took place in an open building, with hundreds of passengers milling about, less than six feet from an open door with very heavy traffic outside. Any dog who ran out that door would unquestionably be killed by traffic in a matter of minutes.

I still get weak at the knees thinking about what could have happened if we had not been present. Certainly none of the security staff had any dog experience whatsoever; Griffin would have wriggled in their arms and tried to lick their faces; if they had dropped him they would not have had any idea how to catch him again. (Everyone who knows him is aware that he’d come to anyone who showed him a treat!)

It is appalling that living animals are not treated differently than other cargo in this respect. Quite obviously, from every point of view, it would make sense that security should check crates BEFORE they are closed by the airline staff at check-in, and that no crate containing a live animal should ever be opened unless it is inside a closed room and the owner (or at the very least an experienced animal handler) is present. Once the crate has been inspected, a sticker or plastic seal should be placed on the gate indicating that it cannot be opened again while in transit.

With the above in mind, it’s actually surprising that not more pets are lost at airports. Many dogs are nervous while being shipped and would bolt at the first opportunity to get out of the crate. A scared dog might bite a security officer, who then most likely would let the dog go.

There has been much discussion about whether it’s safer to leave a collar on a dog being shipped or not. While I agree that there is a small risk that the collar could get stuck in something during the flight, I now feel that it’s probably safer to leave it on, since this would at least increase the dog’s risks of not getting loose if it’s taken out of its crate after check-in.

We will never know whether it was a last-minute security inspection of Vivi’s crate what forced her to get out of her crate and eventually get lost. It is certain, however, that a new federal regulation needs to be introduced to prevent similar occurrences from happening again.

Griffin got to Florida safe and sound, not in the least upset by his experience. However, I urge anyone with contacts in the right places to help us push for a change in the federal regulations for how live animals in transit are treated by airport staff.

Thanks for your patience!

Bo Bengtson>>
    

A year later, is finding Vivi a lost cause?

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

Vivi has come full circle.

The California whippet who became a household name when she bolted from her crate at Kennedy Airport almost a year ago after the Westminster Kennel Club dog show -- and who kindled hopes of her capture after six months of catch-me-if-you-can sightings all over Queens -- hasn't been seen in months. And as the anniversary of her airport escape approaches, some searchers worry that she truly is gone, this time for good.

Champion Bohem C'est la Vie, as Vivi was formally known, disappeared last Feb. 15 en route to a Delta Airlines flight. Searches of the airport marshland, cargo areas and surrounding neighborhoods yielded not so much as a glimpse of her.

Then, more than three weeks later, Vivi was spotted north of the airport, in Jamaica. Soon after, the white-and-brown whippet, which resembles a miniature greyhound, began a tour of Queens, sparking sightings in Flushing, Whitestone and College Point, some of which were confirmed by pet-detection tracking dogs.

Vivi's hot trail came to a sudden halt in August in Glendale, near the Brooklyn border. Since then, only sporadic calls have come through the Vivi hotline, 877-JFK-VIVI, all of them unverifiable dead-ends.

"I'm really saddened to realize it's been a whole year," said Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson, of Ojai, Calif., who will soon head east to attend the Westminster show at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 12 and 13, his annual ritual for more than 30 years. "I'll never forget the desolation of trudging through the areas around the airport that first night, or the following days and weeks and months. ... If there's been anything positive coming from all this, it's that we've concrete proof of how much people love dogs."

Indeed, throughout the year-long search, a die-hard group of local volunteers rescued more than 60 animals, from a batch of kittens nicknamed The Honeymooners to a Chihuahua called Pablo.

None of them, however, has been Vivi, a fact that disheartens search coordinator Bonnie Folz of Howard Beach.

"I don't think it's ever going to end -- I don't think I'm ever going to find her," she said. "My heart says yes, but my head says she could have been dead that night in the marshland a year ago. I hope that I'm wrong, but there are so many what-ifs and why-fors."

If Vivi is still alive, the dearth of recent sightings suggests she is no longer on the lam. Searchers are following up on reports that dogs matching Vivi's description have been seen walking on leash in East New York, Astoria, Glendale, and southeastern Nassau County.

"I hope someone has her," said Vivi's owner, Jil Walton of Claremont, Calif., who delayed her wedding from May until November "because we kept thinking, 'This is the weekend we are going to have to go to New York to get her.'"

Along with the nuptials, Walton's other concession to reality was her new puppy, a 5-month-old Jack Russell terrier mix named Lucy Brown, whose feistiness is a stark contrast to her devoted, shadow-like whippet.

Walton said she still occasionally speaks to animal communicators, who themselves are divided about her missing dog's fate. "Some say she's dead, some say they are still in touch with her," said Walton, who is moving to Montana in May to have more room for her horses.

If the optimists are right, "Vivi will have a great spread when she comes home."

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

Team Vivi Update 2/01/07

The one-year anniversary of the day that Vivi was carelessly mishandled and lost at JFK Airport while entrusted to Delta Airlines to get her home, safely, to California, is only two weeks away.

Vivi is still missing.

There have been no confirmed sightings of Vivi since November. Since that time, we have received calls of people seen “walking” Vivi, unfortunately, the volunteers have not been successful in seeing these people walking Vivi while doing stake-outs of the areas.  There are three areas, one in Astoria, Queens, one in East New York, Brooklyn and one in Long Island, not far from JFK Airport.

We are considering hiring professionals to try and confirm these as the volunteer’s schedules and daily lives prohibit us from checking these calls out effectively.  Seems the Vivi Team is everywhere but never in the right place at the right time. I can only hope that if someone does have Vivi, that she is being cared for.

The media blitz surrounding Vivi’s unfortunate anniversary has already begun. As hard as it is, to relive what happened and all that the Vivi Team and people from all over the country have done to help with Vivi’s search, it is very important to keep the public informed that Vivi is still missing. Someone, somewhere, will see her and give us the call we have long awaited.

Besides learning about lost dog’s habits, what to do, and where to go for help, I’ve met some very incredible and caring people. The Vivi Team and Vivi’s Out-of Town Team, as well as other volunteers, brought together because of Vivi, have been instrumental in helping to rescue and re-home over 60 animals! A litter of puppies was rescued from a vacant lot in Queens by Team Vivi’s Barbara Jean and Nancy, just last week! All of these animals now have loving homes.

Many of Vivi’s volunteers, while out posting flyers and searching for Vivi, are helping to locate other missing dogs as well. Max, a white and brown pitbull went missing after a car accident in Kew Gardens, Queens in November. Bailey, a black and white Alaskan Malamute, was stolen from her home on January 18, and was seen wandering in Elmont, Long Island.

Whatever eyes were opened, because of Vivi, will never see things the same.  We will always look at a loose dog, not so much as a stray, but possibly as someone’s lost pet.

A small group of us, formed from the Vivi search, had our first meeting about how to change the way airlines treat and handle animals while in their care. We do not want what happened to Vivi and the torment that Jil, Rick, Paul and Bo have been put through, to ever happen again. There is no reason for it.  We never heard the outcome of Delta’s “internal investigation.” The report Delta did file is below:

Delta Air Lines

Live Animal Incident Report - REDACTED

Reporting Period:  February 1 – February 28, 2006

Carrier

Delta Air Lines

Flight Number

Scheduled Flight # DL2027 JFK-LAX

Date and Time of Incident

February 15, 2006 – approximately 1100

Type of Incident

Escape

Description of Animal

Breed:  Whippet

Name:  ViVi

Age: 3 years

Description of the Incident

Passenger checked one dog to travel on Flight DL2027 from JFK to LAX.   At acceptance, a visual inspection of the kennel did not reveal any defects.  All locking pins appeared to be fully engaged. This kennel and two additional kennels were transported in a secured conveyance to the gate.  When the driver disconnected the conveyance, the driver noticed that one dog was out of its kennel.  Ramp agents attempted to secure the dog but were unsuccessful.  Delta, with assistance from the Port Authority, provided additional resources for the search efforts. 

Cause of the Incident

A manual inspection revealed that the kennel’s locking mechanism appeared defective, as it lacked adequate tension to keep the locking pins properly engaged.

Corrective Action Taken

System review of pet acceptance procedures, with an emphasis on kennel specifications.  Additional procedures implemented requiring kennel doors to be secured with releasable cable ties where possible.

Delta did not return Vivi’s crate to her owners for two weeks after they lost Vivi.

We are in the research phase right now and are compiling information of airline procedures for checking in animals. We are putting together a list of questions to forward out to whoever flies or has flown an animal, and what their experience was, good and/or bad. In doing some research already, animals flying in cargo are considered baggage and it seems that many airlines subcontract baggage handlers.  It doesn’t make a difference to me who handles the baggage but whoever is handling the animals checked in MUST have some sort of training on the care and handling of the animal. A trained supervisor, from the airlines, should be on hand to make sure the animal boards the plane safely and arrives safely. I will make  the questionnaires available as soon as they are finished.

There are a few people on the Vivi Team that are still working on different tactics and angles. There are people on the Vivi Team that feel she’ll never be found. Everyone will have to decide for themselves when to stop their active search. Other than following up on incoming calls to Vivi’s 800 number and keeping in contact with the rest of Team Vivi, there’s not much more, I feel, can be done. In my heart, I’ll never give up hope. I’ll always be looking for Vivi as I drive.  I’ll continue to check the local shelter and will continue to tell people as I see them that Vivi is still missing. And I pray, someday, Vivi is found.

Jil, Rick, Paul and Bo have told me time and again, they could never thank all of the volunteers enough for the time, effort and donations put forth for Vivi’s search. I know we are all very appreciated for doing all that we have.

I’ll be attending and exhibiting at the Westminster Kennel Club show again this year, as I have since 1998. I know this year, and every year thereafter, will never be the same for me, all because of a beautiful lost Whippet, CH Bohem’s C’est La Vie.

As always, and forever, keeping the faith.

Bonnie

From search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<Vivi Update - Januray 1, 2007

Wishing everyone a happy holiday, and a New Year resplendent with Vivi sightings ...

Denise

Other than new lows achieved in interpersonal communication in the comments section of this blog, nothing much to report.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz writes:

<<I’ve got nothing new to report on the Vivi search as everything has been the same these past couple of weeks. There arel feeding stations being monitored, flyers, posters and door hangers as well as faxes and emails to businesses in the area being distributed. Canvassing of the park and neighboring blocks still being done. Couple of calls trickling in,but nothing substantial to go on.  .. Just no real news to report.

The Vivi Team is also trying to help Ticket, the 11-year-old whippet missing in Georgia, as best we can from far away, with ideas, thoughts and suggestions from what Team Vivi has learned and experienced these past 10 months. 10 MONTHS TOMORROW!!>>

For out-of-towners who have never been to Forest Park in Queens -- at almost 1,300 acres, the borough's third-largest park, and the location of the most recent Vivi sighting -- here are some selections from Newsday's photo library.

Empty tables and grill at Picnic Grove in Forest Park on a rainy Labor Day afternoon in 2002.

(Newsday Photo/ Ken Sawchuk)

The Queens Symphony Orchestra perform in concert at the George Seuffert Bandshell in 2002. 

A man sits on a bench reading in late morning sun at Forest Park on an unusually mild Febuary day in 2002.

(Newsday Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr.)

David Harris of D&D Stables in Forest Hills (70th Road off Metropolitan Avenue) leads a group of riders through a trail in Forest Park in August 2002.

(Newsday Photo/Julia Gaines)

Local schoolchildren attend a Read A Thon at Forest Park's Seuffert Bandshell in May 2001, and draw pictures about a story they've just heard.

(Newday Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr.)

A young visitor to the park cools off while playing at the fountain in the children's playground at "The Overlook," the easternmost section of  Forest Park off Park Lane in Kew Gardens in 2000.

(Newsday Photo/Julia Gaines)

Assistant gardener Kathleen Scullion looks at a forsythia bush in one of the cold frames outside Forest Park's greenhouse in 2000.

(Newsday Photo/Julia Gaines)

Arborist apprentice Melvin Barron of the Bronx takes a test at Forest Park to qualify as a tree climber and pruner at New York City parks in 1999.

(Newsday Photo/Al Raia)

DAY 292 THE SEARCH FOR VIVI

Show dog search now a game of cat and mouse?

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

December 4, 2006

Reports of Vivi's death are greatly exaggerated.

That's the feeling among some searchers still looking for the champion whippet, who bolted from her crate Feb. 15 after competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show the day before.

In late November, searchers invited Oklahoma-based pet detective Karin Goin to canvass the Glendale neighborhood in southwest Queens where Vivi sightings were called in regularly until late summer. Unable to find a recent scent with her tracking dogs, Goin concluded that the brindle-and-white show dog, who looks like a miniature greyhound, had likely died. In short order, The Associated Press dubbed Vivi an "urban legend," and the dedicated knot of volunteer searchers considered disbanding.

Then, according to searcher Rosa Chile of Hollis, last Monday a motorist on Park Lane South in Glendale's Forest Park reported almost hitting an emaciated white dog that was trying to cross the road. Recognizing the dog from media reports, but a bit fuzzy on the details, the man jumped out of the car and shouted "Fifi!" The startled dog looked at him, then darted into the park.

"We've got this lineup of dogs," said Chile, referring to a montage of a dozen canine "mug shots" that she shows to people who have claimed to see Vivi. "And when we showed him, he pointed right to the dog and all he kept saying, all excited, was, 'That's it, that's it, that's it!'"

Much as she would like to believe Vivi has resurfaced, search coordinator Bonnie Folz of Howard Beach is cautiously optimistic. "It's very possible that was her, and she has found a good place to hide," concluded Folz, who has compared Vivi to the mob - just when she thinks she's out, the dog pulls her back in.

"But we'd really like some more sightings to be sure."

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

On Saturday, Pat Murkland -- an Irish wolfhound fancier and Southern California-based Vivi supporter -- was thumbing through the catalog at the much-hyped Eukanuba/AKC National Championship when she came across Vivi's name.

The annual show is nicknamed the Invitational because it invites the top 25 dogs from each breed to compete. And this year, Vivi was included among the whippet invitees, though her absence was certainly not a surprise.

"Hurray for Vivi!" writes Pat in an email. "She was ranked No. 13 of 25 in whippet breed wins, according to the Canine Chronicle. The qualifying period was from Oct. 12, 2005, to Oct. 10, 2006. So she got ranked based on what she won between mid-October 2005 and Westminster 2006, and finished over others who competed throughout the remaining months of the qualifying period, which is the majority of the 2006 show season.

"Of course," Pat concludes, "the biggest win of all time would be getting hugged by her family again."

Lisa Bryant sent this email to Vivi search coordinator Bonnie Folz to tell her about the unfortunate ending to the story of Tarik, an Afghan hound who escaped from his new adopters in Pennsylvania. It is posted here with the permission of both.

"I wanted to write you to let you know that the search for Tarik ended last Saturday," Lisa writes. "A family found his body in their yard and were kind enough to call me. I did pick him up and took him to my vet to be cremated. I couldn't bear to let him be thrown in the trash. I hate how this ended, but I am grateful to at least know what happened."

Vivi is sort of like the mob. Just when you think you're out ... she pulls you back in.

A man called the hotline to say that this morning he was driving through Forest Park on Park Lane South -- and came to a screeching halt when he found a very skinny, miniature-greyhound-looking dog with a big black patch on her side blocking the street.

He yelled at her from the car window, and then, recognizing her from the newspaper coverage of recent weeks, he got out of the vehicle and shouted, "Fifi!" (Close, but no cigar.)

The man said the dog turned, looked at him, and then ran back into the park, toward the general area where a local woman feeds a colony of feral cats.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this buoyant email:

<<We’ve got a positive ID!! The guy picked Vivi out without any hesitation. Rosa said it was nothing like the other lineup shown to the woman with the sighting on Penn. Ave & Linden Blvd. That woman really had to look at the lineup for a while.

The guy also spoke to Rick on the phone. He told Rick he’s sorry to say she’s very skinny, ribs showing. Rosa found a house where a woman has a feeding station set up for the cat colony she takes care of. We’re going to ask if we can set up a camera or two to see if Vivi’s feeding there.

Just when ya try to get out of this search, a call comes in like this and ya get sucked right back in again!

Here’s back to pounding the pavement!

Keeping the faith!

Bonnie Folz>>

At the suggestion of pet detective Karin Goin, Vivi searchers have created a visual "lineup" to show to callers who say they have spotted the missing whippet.  Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this followup regarding a Thanksgiving-evening call from Brooklyn:

<<[Searcher] Rosa [Chile] showed it to the woman who claimed to see Vivi on Pennsylvania Avenue and Linden Boulevard  and asked her to pick out the dog she saw.  The woman said that none of the dogs shown looked like what she saw and asked if there was a picture of Vivi on the sheet (which there was).  Rosa then showed the woman a picture of Vivi that is used for the fliers and the woman said no, none of them were of the dog she saw.  Great idea of Karin's.  Wish we had it sooner.  But at least it will save us checking areas, wondering if it was Vivi or not the caller saw.>>

Today's Associated Press story labeling Vivi an "urban legend" may be catchy, but is it true?

In this experienced Vivi watcher's estimation, mistaken sightings of the dog have less to do with an urge to romanticize the whippet's exploits, and more to do with the general public's woefully inadequate ability to identify different dog breeds.

(As my fellow dog-show fanatics would say, with an exasperated sigh, "Pet people!")

The smattering of Rego Park reports this fall, for example, can be attributed to one very unwhippety-looking Chihuahua.

Vivi sightings continue to trickle in, albeit not with the consistency that earmarked all the earlier, verified sightings that came to a standstill at summer's end.

Last night, for example, a woman on a bus returning from Thanksgiving dinner reported seeing a small white dog at the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue -- an intriguing location that is just south of the Interboro Parkway's terminus and the clot of ancient cemeteries where searchers thought Vivi might have taken refuge.

The East New York area has never been postered -- for reasons of more interest to sociologists than pet detectives.

Last Sunday, a man reported seeing a dog of Vivi's description between Cooper Avenue and 71st Street in Glendale.

Finally, there is the scenario mentioned in the AP story. To say that longtime searcher Rosa Chile regrets having made that information public would be a gross understatement.

As a general rule, this reporter has always maintained a policy of respecting the requests of Vivi searchers to not publish information -- either electronically or in print -- that could potentially jeopardize the  search.

Vivi searchers continue to follow up on all leads, and will communicate information via this blog once it has been verified, as happened with the "I've got her" call that turned out to have come from some prankster in Michigan.

Is Vivi gone? Maybe. But the first six months of frequent sightings, from Jamaica to Flushing to Glendale, were not the stuff of legend -- they were real, and a half-dozen excursions by tracking dogs said as much.

So I'm not quite ready to put Vivi in the category of terrorists masquerading as UPS men, or killer Swiffers, or whatever. Are you?

Missing Show Dog Becomes Urban Legend

By RICHARD PYLE
Associated Press Writer

November 24, 2006, 10:02 AM EST

NEW YORK -- In the nine months since escaping her travel cage at Kennedy Airport, Vivi the wayward whippet has joined the Central Park coyote, high-rise tiger, Harlem Meer caiman and Molly the fugitive feline in New York's ever-growing pantheon of urban animal legends. She was reported dozens of times, roaming cemeteries with other dogs, or hanging around stores in the borough of Queens, in some cases miles from the tarmac where she disappeared while awaiting a flight home to California on Feb. 15. A day earlier, she had won an Award of Merit at the annual Westminster Kennel Club show.

Owners Jil Walton and Paul Lepiane offered a reward for Vivi's return but have kept a low profile. This week, their lawyer, Joyce Randazzo, said they still hope to recover the sleek, 4-year-old brindle and white whippet, formally known as Champion Bohem C'est la Vie, and the reward, an unspecified amount, still stands.

According to a map published Nov. 18 by The New York Times, Vivi was reported at more than 45 different locations before Aug. 7, when the sightings suddenly stopped, raising fears that she might be dead or left the area.

Richard Gentles, director of administration for Animal Care & Control of New York City, said his organization dispatched rescue teams after "five or six calls" on Vivi in the past several months, but all proved negative.

"For a dog like that to be able to survive this long would be very difficult unless somebody picked it up," Gentles said. "I hope it's true that somebody has the dog and doesn't recognize it. It does happen."

On Wednesday, a volunteer group that devotes itself to finding Vivi reported a new lead: an anonymous caller who had seen her neighbor with a dog that resembled the elusive canine.

"She said he takes it to work every day. We asked if it was a greyhound and she said `No, it's a whippet,'" said Rosa Chile, who answers calls at a toll-free number. "She sounded very legitimate, but she was afraid."

Chile said the area of the purported sighting was being watched, but would not give other details, even where it is -- other than "a few minutes from Kennedy airport."

Bonnie Folz, a professional dog trainer who lives near the airport and has led the search effort for Vivi, said she did not think the dog is still roaming free, and unless she met with misfortune, is in someone's custody.

"I really think somebody has her and that person can't keep the dog under wraps forever," she said.

Folz is conducting an overall review of the Vivi search with Karen Goin, a pet detective who uses her three trained dogs to track missing pets. They recently used a coat once worn by Vivi to check out a report in the Rego Park section of Queens, but the dogs did not find her scent, Folz said.

Recovered or not, Vivi already has joined the colorful list of animals occupying niches as urban legends in Gotham, says Steve Zeitlin, the director of City Lore, a center for the study of such things.

Just two months after Vivi vanished into a wildlife area adjoining JFK, a cat named Molly became trapped inside a wall of a delicatessen in Manhattan's Greenwich Village where she earned her keep as a mouser. It took two weeks to extricate the feline without damaging the landmark building.

Other incidents in recent years involved a full-grown tiger living in a Manhattan apartment, an alligator-like caiman that was recovered from the Harlem Meer pond in Central Park and a truly wily coyote that led police and animal experts on a chase through the park before it was captured.

Zeitlin noted that the frequent reports of Vivi in cemeteries enhances a "ghostly" image, made to order for urban lore.

"I believe the dog has already made it," Zeitlin said. "The sense of an urban legend is something that comes out of daily life or ordinary circumstances and has the stuff of fiction in it, something that is always about to be proved true.

"With this dog, it is always a sighting that can't quite be confirmed."

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this report from pet detective Karin Goin regarding her search for Vivi last week. Bonnie asks that if you have any questions, please email them to her at pawsativebf@aol.com; she will compile and forward them to Karin for answers.

Client: ViVi Rescue Organization

Date Nov. 15th & 16th 2006

Subject: VIVi missing whippet

Scent Article: Horse blanket coat worn by ViVi per pet owner

Confirm: 98% hair & dander in coat lining

Point of escape: JFK airport - Delta terminal

Displaced YES

Missing: app. 275 days

The following is an abbreviated summary of our observations and findings:

This PI was contacted several times by email and phone and requested to assist with a summary and refocus of the ViVi search in New York. Due to costs it was determined that the investigator would come when other searches were scheduled in the nearby area. In mid November we were able to accommodate this request.

Upon arrival in New York on November 14, 2006, Bonnie Folz came to my hotel room with maps and other documentation, showing and explaining the multitudes of information, sightings and speculative theory that had come in over the past nine months. The core group of volunteers had decided the goal was to ascertain if any of the sightings after August were valid and if they were how to proceed. If the sightings were not valid, what were the best steps to take in a speculative arena to determine if ViVi was in fact still at large in the Flushing, Queens area as well as the probability based on the profile of her chances of being rescued and held in someone's home or if she possibly could had met with an accident that may have caused her death. After reviewing the documents, we confirmed our goals.

November 15th, 2006.

It was decided to start where the confirmed sighting was of ViVi in July. Sighting in Mt Hebron cemetery along the Van Wyck/Western Expressway. Both Cade and Dodger scanned the area individually and both dogs confirmed that yes this was ViVi's scent and both dogs headed off to the South with Dodger trying to go under the fence toward the expressway where the sighting had been.

Throughout this day our goal was to check sightings:

The sighting at Strack Pond in Forest Park was confirmed to be ViVi. Cade was started at the furthermost corner of Strack pond and ran to the exact location at Woodhaven and Forest Park where the two sightings had been. The Bandshell was also checked but there was no scent in the area.
The Mount Neboh cemetery was scanned as the witness that had seen and fed ViVi back in June was available to show us where ViVi had been staying. We asked him to stop app 50 yards from the sight so we could start Cade and see if he would confirm ViVi's presence from several months ago. He did in fact pick up ViVi's scent but it was very old which was evident in the way he had to work the scent so close to the ground which is not his typical way of going. He also went to the area where the witness said he had left food and water for ViVi for several days until she disappeared in the second or third week of June. I do not believe he knew about ViVi's plight until much later in the summer. We scanned other parts of the cemetery but found ViVi's scent to be mostly in one area and none of the scent appeared to be recent.

A plausible theory had been generated that ViVi may have used the cemeteries and greenbelts to travel by and that possibly she had disappeared into the cemeteries over that past few months. Cemeteries were strategically scanned based on their proximity, topography and the direction of the wind. Cypress Hills Cemetery, Mount Carmel, Salem Field, Cemetery of the Evergreen, Mount Judah and the Lutheran Cemetery were all scanned at various locations for ViVi's scent. The park and roadway near the reservoir was also checked as was Highland Park area. Cade led this process as he typically can detect scent over a longer period of time. Dodger was used in this task to confirm or deny the findings. Dodger and Cade agreed upon all findings and ViVi's scent was not found in any of these locations with the exception of the former already mentioned. Finding: It is unlikely that ViVi spent any time in these cemeteries over the past 3 months which was our target date.

Possible recent sightings were scanned for confirmation of ViVi's scent
Two blocks of Yellow stone Blvd were checked in each of the four directions for the subjects scent. A sighting near a dry cleaners was reported so all areas around both dry cleaners visible were checked. Finding: Dodger found that ViVi's scent was not in the area and it is most plausible that she has not been in that area for at least 3 months if at all.
I felt it necessary to confer with Laura Totis in regards to her findings when she and Sam Conley had been up three weeks earlier. I thought there was some discrepancy in our findings but when we talked and compared notes, it was obvious that the information had been transferred incorrectly and Laura and I had found the same scent and lack of scent accordingly. We confided in possibilities and agreed on the most likely outcomes to this point. Laura was extremely helpful and generous in her assistance.

November 16th

Reported ViVi sightings occurred in Rego Park at the end of September. Three blocks were checked with the dogs being asked to check in each of the four directions at each location for a total of 8 scans. The dogs agreed that ViVi's scent was not in this area. The wind was blowing lightly adding to the possibility that scent could travel and loft if ViVi had in fact been in the area. It was determined she had not.

Speculative theory was generated towards the possibility that ViVi may have been hiding in Willow Lake and if she had in fact whelped and had puppies that the cover provided here would make her invisible to the public explaining her disappearance from the public view for the past three months. We hiked in along a muddy road to a point between the two lakes with a raised platform. Cade was selected to do this scan far into the reeds and he found no scent for ViVi. Finding: It is unlikely that ViVi has been in this area in the past three months.

Speculative theories included the possibility that ViVi had left the Flushing area and had traveled down into Brooklyn where the public awareness and focus had been limited to the media reports. No Postering or flyers had been done. Led by volunteers and joined by the media, periodic scans of the Brooklyn main streets were made. These were arbitrary locations that bordered the cemeteries southwest from those bordering Highland Blvd, Jackie Robinson Parkway and Cypress Ave. Finding: Although no scent was found for ViVi, it is difficult to say conclusively that ViVi did not go towards Brooklyn or any other city for that matter. Concentration was around the cemeteries as the most likely access and scent were not found in these areas.

THE MEDIA: From the beginning a decision was made to encourage media involvement to get ViVi's picture and plight in front of the public one more time. The media had been reluctant to print or report on any of the ViVi info so a story angle was devised and several volunteers got on the phones. It was a great success and ViVi again went out across the city and the country. The New York Times, the Daily News, and Newsday all carried stories and photos of the beloved hound. Channel 11 and CNN followed suit and the story went out over the AP. Coverage was effective and widespread. That said, handling the media, the interviews, and the photo shoots and location meetings was time consuming and took up at least 2 hours of this 6 hour day. Findings: ViVi was again put out into public awareness. Three possibilities came in and all were checked out. The group had hoped for a sighting of the dog still roaming but as of this writing none have been reported.

Phone Call of September 6th: I was asked to ascertain if the phone calls and claims from the young woman made in September were possible. After getting a subpoena, the restricted phone numbers were obtained and I was given both numbers to research from a private investigator stand point. Another PI had made inquiries and gathered auxiliary info but I was asked to confirm and decide if the claims could have been valid or was the call a prank. After returning to my office in Oklahoma, I made the exploratory calls to the homeowner of the property where the calls had originated. The 75 year old woman that answered was unaware of any dog or phone calls but admitted that People magazine was in their home weekly. The woman explained that she had relatives in September and it is possible that one of them made the call but she was aghast at what would prompt such harmful actions. She apologized and hoped the dog's owners had not been emotionally upset explaining that she knew that the missing dog was probably a family member like her own two dachshunds. I felt compelled to ask about others in the house and I could hear the conversation going on in the background. The individuals were truly surprised by my call and felt bad that possibly someone had used their phone for such an awful purpose. I felt they were complicit and honest in their statements and feel further investigation is probably not warranted. I then called the other number which was a cell phone and received loud rap and hip hop music as the answer. I have called thrice more with the same results leading me to believe the owner of the number maybe a young person. Both numbers originated out of Michigan and my conclusion is that they were most likely pranks brought on by the People magazine article that had run just days prior to the call.

SUMMARY:

I have reviewed the ViVi case from its beginning and the profiles, map locations and sightings make sense for her situation. In the beginning of her trek, she was very visible which can somewhat be explained by the extensive media coverage but also shows the inexperience and learning curve she undergoes as she becomes more adept at maneuvering on the streets. In the case of the roaming dog at large, especially one displaced thousands of miles, there is a definite process of education that goes on as the dog learns to survive and exist on the streets. Once ViVi left the airport, which most likely happened with in the first two weeks, she began moving among the neighborhoods, (based on the sightings and phone calls from the public), sometimes being seen on the street and sometimes being seen in greenbelt area. Some saw her during the day and some at night. But as time went on, her sightings in the daylight became less and her direction of travel moved south east down into the larger greenbelt areas, cemeteries and park. It has been suggested that she travels the roadside greenbelts and others speculate she uses the railroad tracks and others feel she only moves at night. In fact all of these are most likely right. Based on my experience with this scenario, it is most likely that she used all these modes at times but did not stick to any one thing or a pattern would have developed and the chances of her being seen would have increased. In fact, most dogs in this situation generally create a new home territory and a pattern of sources for food and water. The sight hounds however, as well as the beagle and some terriers, tend to be more wanderlust and less prone to pattern than other breeds so it is more than likely that ViVi never did develop a pattern that would have been discernible and calculated. It is the most likely that ViVi learned to survive while on the go.

The last confirmed sightings of ViVi are from early August. At that time she was in the area of Strack Pond in Forest Park. From this point it is unknown where she went or what happened to her as confirmed sightings of her have stopped. This PI is not surprised that ViVi could survive from a food and water aspect. Her history in California made her a great candidate for survival. But the biggest threat that ViVi would have had to encounter was not food and water but humans and the countless possibilities of accident and disease. The following are the most likely outcomes:

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.

The other possibilities are rescue by a citizen and the dog moving out of the publicized search area. Although both are possibilities, it seems highly unlikely that someone would not have seen her after this amount of time. Her picture has covered the nation and most of us know her photo on sight. In three months someone would have called I believe.

Rescue by citizen is also possible but becomes less plausible over time. Generally the longer one of these dogs remains out at large; the less likely they are to respond to human intervention and modes of capture. From the beginning, one of the difficulties in attracting and capturing a dog of ViVi's breed is their ability to survive on small amounts of food. ViVi has never been food driven during this journey and appeared to find food easy enough without having to use the food stations and traps that were placed in many parts of the city. Dogs at large frequently survive on trash, discarded restaurant and market food stuffs, (as I found she was doing when I was tracking her in March), as well as cat food left out for feral cat colonies or outdoor cats by their owners. It is likely that she used all of these menus in her survival and found that they were adequate without the need to approach a trap regardless the delicacy. This behavior is common for her breed. So could she have been rescued and someone has her in their house? Yes, it is possible but not as likely. One must ask what would be the motivation for someone to keep her? The country knows about the search for ViVi and surely unless the individual was living under a rock and never left it, someone would have recognized her in their care. But why would they keep her when the risk is so high… and so is the reward. In my experience someone keeping a dog against all odds rarely happens and does not seem as likely based on my experience with this dog's well publicized case and the rewards and notoriety that would go along with being her rescuer.

Upon leaving I encouraged the group to respond to likely sightings and scenarios and to use a line up card to ascertain the validity of the sightings when Pet Detection K9s were unavailable for confirmation. I explained that if ViVi was to resurface it would most likely be by fluke and not calculation. I am truly in awe at the dedication and passion the core group of volunteers has expressed over these long months. They are all to be commended for their perseverance and spirit.

To all of you… and to ViVi, wherever you are - You have my utmost regard and admiration.

Karin Chockley Goin…. PET DETECTIVES, inc.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this regarding the phone call from a person claiming to have Vivi:

<<The call that came with the restricted phone number was a prank call.  We believed it was so as soon as the phone records were finally received and the initial investigation found the number belonging to a elderly woman in Detroit, MI.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this Team Vivi Update:

<<November 17^th

Just wanted to recap what’s happened this past week.

First, I’d like to congratulate Jil and Rick, the new Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, on their long-awaited wedding. Both seemed to be glowing with happiness at the reception. I only hoped the present they wished for could have been delivered, but this was not the case.

They have adopted a new member into their family. Her name is Lucy Brown and she’s an adorable black and brown little ball of fur. I believe she’s about 10 weeks old and I’m sure Vivi would love her new little sister.

While in California I received an email from Karin Goin that she had a few other searches to do in New York and would be coming in with her dogs to search for Vivi. I had been in contact with Karin for a few weeks trying to work it out and planning on her searching for Vivi Friday and Saturday, but it was happening now! I scrambled with the other team members when I got back, trying to figure out who could be where and when. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately, because we should be grateful we can say that), all volunteers other than our two retirees were working.

I met with Karin when she arrived on Tuesday night to review the map of sightings and go over the areas the volunteers wanted checked out. Since Laura Totis and Sam Connelly were here two weeks ago, we were able to rule out the areas already searched by their dogs. After explaining what we volunteers were hoping she could accomplish and listening to her thoughts on what she felt we should do, we put a plan in place with areas to be searched. Karin also felt the best thing to do was to get Vivi’s picture and story back out in the media and public. With no confirmed sightings in months, we needed to see if we’d get any calls of sightings while she was here.

Rosa met up with Karin first thing in the morning and off they went. (Please forgive me if I screw up any time lines of where they went and what day they did what, it as these past few days still have me spinning.)

I began work and shot off a few emails to the rest of the Vivi team that we needed to get Vivi’s picture and the word back out about Vivi still being missing, using whatever angle worked -- tracking dogs back in, Jil and Rick’s wedding, nine-month anniversary, etc. What an outstanding job we all did: As most of you know, Vivi was mentioned on almost every major news channel, radio stations and the Daily News ran an article. (More to come in the papers.)

Mount Hebron Cemetery was searched and both Karin’s dogs picked up scent the same area that Sam’s dog picked it up two weeks prior. Though it is Vivi’s scent that was picked up, it’s probably up to three months old. Other cemeteries were checked, train tracks, etc. They finished up the day at about 6 p.m.

I regrouped with Rosa and Karin at that time to figure out what the next day’s game plan would be. We only had Karin for the morning, as she had another lost pet to search for in West Virginia. Rosa again met up with Karin (thank you, Rosa) and hit the Rego Park area first to rule out the recent unconfirmed sightings, which they did. The dogs did not pick up any scent there.

At this point Karin called to say she’d been contacted by numerous news agencies about doing Vivi’s story. She told me it was decision time. as she would not be able to do interviews and hit all the remaining areas we wanted searched. I thought to myself about having Karin take her dogs to an area we think she may be in, but what does that get us? It would either be yes, Vivi was here, but we don’t know how long ago and we’d be in the same spot again, or do we take all the media coverage we can, plastering Vivi’s picture in as many living rooms and coffee tables as possible with the media in the hopes of someone seeing it and calling in a sighting?

I chose the media coverage since we don’t know if we’ll ever have it again. This is Vivi’s last hurrah. Until, of course, she’s found.

Once the media interviews were done, Karin checked Willow Lake, the cemeteries up by Highland Park and checked the Highland Park area as well, but still no scent. Of all the areas we volunteers wanted searched, I believe only two were not searched with dogs.

Karin spoke earlier in the day with Laura Totis, conferring with Laura on her findings and thoughts. After finishing her search yesterday, Karin has concluded that Vivi is not at large in Queens. There’s a strong probability Vivi has died and a small possibility someone has her. If someone does have Vivi, we can only hope that she may be seen and we will get a call. Though all this is a bit hard to digest, we know it has been a possibility from day one, when Vivi was irresponsibly handled by Delta Airlines while in their care.

We will continue to alert veterinarians and shelters in the hopes that sooner or later Vivi will turn up.

I’ll have closure with the restricted call by the end of the week and will report the info as soon as I can.

I’ve asked Karin for a summary of her latest search effort for Vivi as well as one from Laura. It will be a week or so before I get it from Karin as she still has a pet to locate and then has to make the drive back home. I’m sure there will be questions. Please do not speculate. If you have questions, please forward them to me at

and I will have them answered for you and emailed back.

This is a sad time for us all, as the "official" search for Vivi comes to a close. I know there are volunteers who will still be out doing their thing for Vivi and everyone will have to decide for themselves when to call it quits. We will always follow up on any leads when our phones ring and will continue to hope against all odds that Vivi will be reunited with Jil and Rick, Paul and Bo.

My heartfelt thanks to EVERYONE who has helped in any way with our search for Vivi.

I’ve received such encouraging feedback on the next project --changing how airlines handle animals -- and have been brainstorming with Denise about possibly putting a non-profit organization together with a web-site to gather information from airlines and people who have flown their animals. The thought is to not only focus on making those changes with the airlines but also being an organization that could guide owners with tips on how to fly their animals safely. Of course, all would be done in memory of Vivi.

Geez, the more I think, the bigger my ideas, but with everyone’s help, we could continue saving other pets because of Vivi the whippet.

I never thought I’d have so much love for a dog I’d never met.

Please be safe, Vivi, wherever you are.

Keeping the faith.

Bonnie>>

Nail-trimming without trauma

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

November 13, 2006

A puppy who squirms and squeals with every snip of the clipper may seem cutely forlorn, but unless he gets comfortable with the idea of having his feet handled, by the time he matures it could well take a village to clip his nails: One person to wield the clipper, one to restrain him, and one to hover and offer useless advice. Dogs that live on concrete - hardly a recommendation, by the way - might sufficiently grind their nails down on their own; most others require weekly grooming sessions, which also should include ear cleaning and coat and tooth brushing.

Ignore nails at your own peril: If left uncut, they can literally curl in on themselves, imbedding in the pads. Dewclaws - those "extra" nails located just below the pastern, or wrist - can catch and tear if they are not kept short and tidy. To say nothing of the damage extra-long talons do to floors and furniture fabric.

The bane of any nail-clipping owner's existence is the quick, that blood-filled tissue that runs down the center of the nail. If cut, the quick bleeds profusely (and messily) and isn't pleasant for the dog. In dogs with light-colored nails, the quick often is faintly visible as a pinkish mass. With black-colored nails, well, may The Force be with you.

In the face of their own squeamishness - not to mention their companion animal's heroic resistance - some owners go so far as to have their veterinarians anesthetize their dogs and do a quick clip job. Asking your vet to clip your dog's nails while the pet is under anesthesia for another procedure, such as a spay or neuter, is perfectly appropriate multitasking. But - rhetorical-question alert - is it a good idea to expose your dog to the risks of anesthesia for nail care that should be routine?

Enter the Dremel, a small hand-held rotary tool sold at home-improvement and hardware stores. Popular among dog-show folk - especially the Doberman crowd, whose obsession with stubby nails has evolved the unofficial compound adjective "Doberman short" - the Dremel's sandpaper-covered drum attachment grinds, rather than cuts, excess nail.

For more than a decade, Marsha Pugh of Hughesville, Md., has used a Dremel to do just that.

"Italian greyhounds are very feet-phobic - if you try to touch their feet, they have convulsions," she says of her seven diminutive charges - her eighth is a Bernese mountain dog. "Dremeling gives you a smoother cut. And the dogs don't run when they see me coming the way they do when I have the clippers."

With the Dremel, the biggest hurdle is getting the dog accustomed to the tool's whirring sound. Pugh is doing this with her Berner by taping wax paper to her refrigerator door, then slathering it with peanut butter. "When he licks the peanut butter, I turn on the Dremel," she explains. "It's a matter of desensitizing. Once they've accepted the sound of the Dremel, the nail-cutting experience itself isn't painful."

Once a dog is used to the Dremel sound, the next step is to touch the Dremel to a nail, then treat copiously with cheese or another beloved treat. With lots of positive reinforcement, dogs soon learn to accept Dremeling. Some actually lie down and fall asleep. To avoid making the nail too hot with the friction of the Dremel, move quickly around the nail and use only the sandpaper attachment, never the grinding stone.

For a popular Dremeling tutorial, visit DoberDawn.com and click on the "How to Dremel Dog Nails" link in the lower left-hand corner. Exhaustively detailed, it features photos of the author's often- supine rescue Dobes named Lestat, Brandy and Duke.

Although Dremel and other companies market dog-specific versions of the popular tool - most of them battery-operated - go with the regular plug-in model; it will give you the necessary juice, especially for large-breed dogs. Take care with long-haired dogs, lest you inadvertently catch their coats in the Dremel like so much twirled spaghetti on a fork. Despite its small size, the Dremel is still a power tool, so wear protective eyewear. And beware the ensuing nail dust: It will give dark outfits a snow-dusted effect, and some sensitive owners have reported that inhaling it has triggered asthma and allergy attacks.

Finally, watch out for the quick, though if you do nick it, the Dremel will cause oozing rather than spurting blood, perhaps not a big distinction to some. "You can go overboard, no matter what method you choose," Pugh warns.

And don't stint on the peanut butter.

WRITE TO Denise Flaim, c/o Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250, or e-mail denise.flaim@newsday.com.

Vivi's final disappearing act?

Missing show dog's trail, like the weather, has begun to grow cold, and some suggest it's time to close the case

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

November 17, 2006

The search for the elusive whippet Vivi stalled yesterday in a Queens graveyard - fittingly, not far from the final resting place of that greatest of all disappearing acts, Harry Houdini.

Vivi, who escaped from Kennedy Airport in February after competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, ignited a massive search that marked its nine-month anniversary Wednesday. For much of the spring and summer, sightings called in to the phone number 877-JFK-VIVI helped volunteers track the show dog from Jamaica to Flushing to Glendale, where the last confirmed sightings came in three months ago.

Now, the trail has gone cold.

"It really is decision time" on whether to give up, said Oklahoma pet detective Karin Goin, standing amid a clutch of centuries-old tombstones in Mount Judah Cemetery in Ridgewood. Mount Judah's proximity to Forest Park, where there were multiple reports of Vivi sightings in late summer, led volunteers to hope Goin's tracking dogs would find a trace of the whippet there.

Instead, Dodger (left), a low-slung fellow of indiscriminate parentage, weaved methodically past urns and obelisks before jumping up on Goin to signal a definite "no." Reports about Goin finding fresh scent near Mount Hebron Cemetery in Kew Gardens Hills probably were overly optimistic. While the tracks belonged to Vivi, who has a predilection for traveling through graveyards, they could have been as much as three months old.

"Vivi isn't traveling around Queens anymore," concluded Goin, who gingerly suggested a less-than-storybook ending.

"Look around," she said, gesturing to traffic beyond the cemetery's gates. "I almost got hit by cars three times today, just stopping in the street for 15 seconds."

She fears Champion Bohem C'est La Vie, as Vivi is formally called, might have met a similar fate, though "a lot of people aren't going to want to let go."

Rosa Chile is one of them. Accompanying Goin on her Vivi rounds, the Hollis resident took time to hand out business cards with Vivi's picture. "I don't think she's dead," she said with conviction. "I think somebody's got her."

Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson of Ojai, Calif., said he clings to the "slender chance" that Vivi was picked up by someone who hasn't called, but sooner or later will. "I'll always hope for that."

For a chronicle of Vivi sightings since her disappearance,
visit www.newsday.com/ animalhouse.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

For those who may have missed it, here is the most recent Vivi "Still Missing" flier.

Download vivicolorflyer1019061.pdf

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz writes:

<<GOOD NEWS!!

Karin Goin is in the house!

The well-known pet detective, who has traveled to the metropolitan area to search for a couple of lost cats on Long Island, is staying over to canvass for Vivi.

Karin will be meeting up bright and early tomorrow morning with searcher Rosa Chile. The plan is for Karin and her dogs to initially search three areas of Vivi sightings: Forest Park in Glendale; Hebron Cemetery, where another tracking dog picked up what is believed to be Vivi's scent earlier this month (a "hit" from one of Karin's dogs would confirm this); and the cemeteries in the Highland Park area, which has not been postered heavily.

Stay tuned!

Nine months after Vivi's  disappearance into the marshland at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the search for her seems mired -- frustrating for all involved, with no credible sightings for months.

This weekend's search by trackers Laura Totis and Sam Connelly did yield a couple of "hits" in terms of scent, but Laura and Sam underscore that the only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that their dogs alerted to a scent -- not that it is unequivocally Vivi's scent.

In one case, one of the tracking dogs alerted to a scent, but the other dog, coming from the opposite direction, did not pick up on it. Was this Vivi? Hard to tell. Like people, dogs are fallible, too.

Searchers report that there is one area adjacent to Forest Park that has not been exhaustively canvassed or fliered:  the East New York community at the terminus of the Interboro Parkway. Some searchers have expressed reluctance to post fliers in this more economically depressed Brooklyn community, but the possibility of Vivi having ventured there is not insignificant.

If Vivi is no longer running loose and has been taken by someone, keeping community awareness high is crucial. National exposure is also important, as lost dogs are frequently transported out of communities by "Good Samaritans" who are passing through.

In three short month, it will be the one-year anniversary of Vivi's escape. At that juncture -- with the Westminster publicity machine in full whirl -- you can expect that Vivi will be on the nation's radar screen once again -- perhaps the very push that the search for her needs.

Bonnie Folz sends this update on the tracking efforts this weekend.

<<Team Vivi Update - November 5th

Personally, I was parented enough in my toddler and preteen years, but it seems that some folks on this blog need a mommy.

You are all on notice: I can and will begin blocking the IPs of individuals who cannot control themselves. If you are incapable of using civil language to communicate your ideas, step off or I will do it for you.

The sixth in an occasional series. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Name: Denise Flaim

Location: Long Island

Age: 41 -- honest!

Occupation: Journalist, supermom, blogger.

Family: Long-suffering husband Fred, toddler triplets (“the human litter”) and two Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

Hobbies: Dog showing, gardening and over-the-top Halloween decorating. (Want to see my talking Bucky skull?)

Favorite Halloween props added this year: Animatronic witches that were originally Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clauses. (Amazing what a little Fimo clay can do.) Last year, had to be the werewolves, which are really retrofitted wire reindeer. 

Favorite Halloween libation: Brain Tumor shot (peach schnapps, Bailey's Irish Crea and grenadine).

Role in the Vivi search: Blog tsarina.

Most vivid Vivi-search memory: Trying to interview Karin Goin in a tiny office in the Posh nightclub with the music booming every time the door opened, which was often.

Worst Vivi-search memory: Mistaking a concrete lamb for the wily whippet while on patrol with the infamous Tina and Rosa. (Hey, it was through a fence, OK?)

Previous column fodder at the paper, before she started the companion-animal beat: Nightclubs, electronic shopping (I got busted surfing eBay during a training session, so they had me cover it) and home.

Best interview: Ozzie Osbourne. Turned out I didn’t need the tape recorder — he was not only intelligible, but funny and real.

Worst: Gene Simmons. It was years ago, and I can still remember how obnoxious he was.

Favorite meal: Polenta and sauerkraut -- the pellagra diet.

Guiltiest pleasure: “People’s Court” reruns. Three minutes to Milian!

Most embarrassing thing my dog's ever done: Attempting to breed a sheep during a herding instinct test. He had instinct, all right.

Most recent Amazon purchases: “The Looming Tower,” “Potty Power” DVD.

Most disconcerting thing to colleagues: When I start discussing dog breeding on the phone. “Is she flagging?” gets them all twitchy.

What I was doing at Westminster last year: Getting an Award of Merit, just like Vivi (albeit it in the Ridgeback ring).

Worst thing about the blog: When people think I am blocking their IP. (Something I have done only once.)

Best thing about the blog: It is a testament to the very human — and noble — desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

Funniest email I've received about Vivi: “I saw the face of Vivi etched in a piece of toast at the Scobie Diner on Little Neck Parkway. I know many will not consider this a true sighting, but I think it was a message. Unfortunately, I was hungry that day and might have missed the only real opportunity to unravel this mystery.”

What the blog has taught me: Build it, and they will come.

With no verifiable Vivi sightings for months, here is a recap of goings-on in the still active search for America's most famous whippet:

Though the dog show at Cunningham Park in Queens was canceled Saturday due to tent-savaging winds and torrential downpours, volunteers manned a wind-whipped table on Sunday to raise awareness that Vivi is still missing, hand out cards and fliers, and sell T-shirts.

The phone number of a caller who phoned searcher Rosa Chile's cell phone from a restricted line twice to say that she had the "missing dog" but was reluctant to return her because her daughter was becoming attached is expected to be provided by Verizon at some point this week.

Some searchers are beginning to believe that Vivi has been caught. (It beats the other viable alternative, which is that she is no longer alive.) One possibility is the Brooklyn neighborhood at the terminus of the Interboro Parkway, which has not been well canvased or fliered, if such a verb exists.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Vivi sightings in Rego Park ceased after Pablo the Chihuahua was rescued and taken off the street.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz confirms that search-dog handlers Laura Totis and Sam Connelly will be in the area this weekend to follow up on any and all Vivi leads and locations of previous sightings.

Vivi's volunteers send on this most recent flier:

Download vivicolorflyer1019061_still_missing.pdf

  Vivi volunteer Darlene O'Sullivan checks in with this report on one of the "Vivi puppies" rescued from the Queens cemetery where she and her littermates were born:

"Here's one of the cemetery pups with me. Her name is TYSON," Darlene says via email. "This was taken about two weeks ago at her owners Wendy and Paul's house.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz brings us up to speed:

<<Vivi Update 10/10/06

Since compassion knows no breed, Vivi searchers who have pounded the New York City pavement looking for the wandering whippet have also saved numerous other lost and stray animals.

One of the latest is Duke, a 8- or 9-month-old lab-mix rescued by Rosa Chile, who persuaded his owner to give him up. Duke was living in a rusty crate in the backyard, with no shelter from the elements.

"He is truly a great dog," writes Barbara-Jean Landsperg, who can only continue to foster him for a very short period. " Housebroken.  Only chews his toys. Walks well on a leash. Gets along with other dogs, although when it comes to food he growls at another dog if they come near. We can take anything (food, chew toys, rawhides) from him with no problem.

Next up is  an as-yet-nameless Chihuahua who was the impetus for a Vivi call in Kew Gardens Hills last night. (Vivi volunteers were suspicious when the caller said the dog had barked at her.) If you're interested in this diminutive dynamo -- he's estimated to be about 2 or 3 years old -- contact Bonnie Folz at pawsativebf@aol.com.

The fifth in an occasional series of Vivi volunteers near and far.

Name: Barbara-Jean Landsperg.

Location:Valley Stream, N.Y.

Age: 56.

Occupation: Animal-care specialist specializing in avians, though she’s currently unemployed.

Animal buddies: Chillie, 8-year-old fawn Chihuahua; Maureen, a 10-ish Shiba Inu-Corgi-Chihuahua mix; assorted Congo African greys including Emily and Charlie (14 years old), brothers Thumper and Sammy (13), Chaps (the senior citizen at 30); Amy, a 7-year-old Blue Fronted Amazon; and two Blue Indian Ringneck Parakeets, Sapphire (17) and Indigo (15).

Temporary resident: Duke, a black-lab puppy rescued by Vivi volunteers Rosa and Tina. If you know of a good home for him, holler.

Thing people misunderstand most about parrots: “They think they are like dogs and expect them to be all sweet and cuddly. Or they totally don’t get it and think they are just a bird.”

What she was in a previous life: Dog groomer, for almost 30 years.

Worst breed to groom: Cocker spaniel. “They have heavy coats that if not groomed daily can mat to nightmare proportions. They take forever to dry and most do not enjoy being groomed -- and let you know it.”

Best breed to groom: “The Afghan hounds were extremely patient, and although they would probably rather be elsewhere, they knew they were gorgeous when they were done.”

Favorite meal: Round steak with mashed potatoes with gravy, spinach and a tossed salad.

Guiltiest pleasure: Tapioca.

Celebrity who looks most like her: “I heard Dinah Shore as an 18-year-old. Now ... ?”

What got her involved in the Vivi search: “I thought she wouldn’t survive the cold. Duh!”

What she does for the search: “I put up fliers, hang door hangers, do some feeding stations when needed, hand out cards and try to get the word out to all I meet, especially the people I see walking their dogs. I check out sighting areas, walk the parks and cemeteries in a leisurely manner, and maybe sit a while and eat lunch in hopes of spotting Vivi.” That's all after she has finished her job searches and interviews. “Vivi has actually expanded my job searches to Queens,” she laughs. “I do a lot of cold walk-ins.”

How she gets to Vivi sightings: Mostly buses during the week, riding shotgun with other Vivi searchers on weekend and night searches.

Longest travel time via public transportation: Three hours -- one way.

Best Vivi-search memory: "When [longtime Vivi volunteer and blogger] Nancy came to rescue me on a Sunday after I missed the last bus out."

Worst-Vivi search memory: Walking in the early-morning dark in Flushing and passing a shipment of cedar mulch at Home Depot that sent her into a severe asthma attack. “I took six puffs on my inhaler and stopped two times each block to Main Street, where I finally found some relief and the bus. I had no insurance and was praying to come out of it and not have to go to the nearby hospital. Whew!”

What friends think about her Vivi mania: “All mine are animal lovers, so they are rooting for us. Acquaintances and neighbors ... well, they think she's with someone and not out there at all.”

What she knew about whippets before she started searching for Vivi: “Loved them, and being familiar with sighthounds, I knew Vivi would be difficult. But never did I dream she would go that feral so fast.

What she tells people who ask why Vivi hasn’t been caught: “That she is in survival mode and very wary. If she is spotted even under her own terms, she bolts at the simplest gesture to entice her.”

If Vivi were a parrot, what kind would she be? “A cockatoo. They are more like juvenile delinquents — so smart they get bored. They are super special and want lots of attention, but give them their freedom to do as they please, and you are dust.”

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz checks in today to say that two more potential Vivi sightings in Rego Park surfaced yesterday.

The first call was from a grammar-school student who attends P.S. 175 near Yellowstone Boulevard. He said he saw a medium-sized, skinny-looking dog outside the school rooting through nearby garbage. When asked if the dog looked like a greyhound, he thought for a while and, presumably not knowing the breed, said the dog looked like a Dalmatian and was white and black.

Later that day Vivi volunteers Gail Thomas and Kathy McGurty-Weiser (aka “Kathy Bayside”)were driving around the area putting up fliers when two men noticed the Vivi poster on Gail's vehicle and said they had seen the dog just two hours before, in the vicinity of 108th Street.

While searchers would like nothing more than to belief that Vivi has resurfaced, Bonnie cautions overoptimism. "We cannot confirm from the four calls in Rego Park that this is Vivi," she says, adding that help is needed to post more fliers in the area to generate additional calls.

Since the departure of pet searcher Harry Oakes, Bonnie and the Vivi volunteers have been working to bring another tracker to the area to try and confirm sightings. Both Laura Totis and Sam Connelly have had difficulty clearing their schedules to come to Queens to search, but Bonnie stresses that bringing a tracker to the area is a top priority.

The fourth in an occasional series on Vivi volunteers near and far.

Name: Kathleen McGurty-Weiser (aka “Kathy from Bayside”).
Location: Bayside, N.Y., natch.
Age: 51.
Occupation: Currently unemployed.
Family: Husband Steve and an elderly Lhasa apso named Rosebud.
Hobby: Pez collector.
Her prize Pez: Jiminy Cricket, circa 1973.
Her dream Pez: “I would love to own the Universal Monsters from around 1965: Frankenstein, Wolfman and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
Guiltiest pleasure: Bingo.
Favorite TV show: “CSI” — New York and Las Vegas.
If the blog was a TV show, what would it be? “Days of Our Lives”!
Best Vivi-search memory: Receiving word of a sighting in Forest Park, and meeting the man who called it in. “While he was showing us the location, I had this strong feeling that Vivi was nearby, and I almost started crying.”
Worst-Vivi search memory: Following up on a report of a woman walking a whippet in Bayside. “I knocked on their door and a man answered. I told him why I was there.” Wearily, the man picked up his whippet, who was named Playboy, and pointed to the piece of anatomy that made it abundantly clear his dog was not Vivi. “Boy, was I embarrassed, and apologized profusely while backing out the door.”
Dumbest piece of Vivi advice she’s ever heard: “No idea is dumb — we have to consider all options.”
And the best: “Set up video cameras to constantly record.”
Her most vivid Vivi dream: She’s never had one. “Isn’t it enough that she is in every waking moment in my life — do I really need to dream about her too?”
How she imagines Vivi will be caught: “Unfortunately the only way I feel that Vivi will be caught is if she is winged by a car, and has difficulty walking and running.”
Ever met a whippet? Nope.
How she started searching for Vivi: On the day she came across this blog, she read a post about a sighting in Peck Park, which is not far from her house. “I grabbed a leash and a bag of biscuits and jumped in my car — and I am still doing that — because I thought for sure I would drive by the park, lure her into my car with the promise of a yummy cookie, and that would be that.”
Where do you think she is now? There are three possibilities: Someone has her who is not aware of her (strange, I know). She is in an area that has not been posted (strange, I know). Or she is … Sorry, folks, need to be realistic here!
What she’s learned about her home borough of Queens that she didn't know pre-Vivi: “I have lived in Queens close to 30 years, and before Vivi I only knew how to get to the Queens Center Mall, Macy’s on Northern Blvd, the #7 train in Flushing and the LIRR on Bell Boulevard. Ask any of the other searchers on my abilities on getting around. Ha!”

Three posts in one day! Pick a thread, any thread.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this update:

<<Vivi Update 9/28/06

We are now into our 33^rd week of the search for Vivi. Though it may not seem too much is happening, there’s lots taking place behind the scenes.

There’s a great group of out-of-town volunteers that continue to fax, email and snail mail businesses throughout Queens and Brooklyn, keeping the neighborhoods aware that Vivi is still missing. We are also looking into newspaper ads.

Another tracker, Harry Oakes, paid a visit to New York with his search-and-rescue dog; however, there was still no sign of the elusive whippet.

We received a call on Friday from a man claiming to have seen Vivi in the neighborhood of Rego Park, an area of Queens not far from Forest and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Rosa was unable to get the information we’d like to have confirming this sighting, as she couldn’t get a word in edgewise and the man hung up too soon. He called from a pay phone and asked that any reward be donated to St. Jude’s. We cannot for sure say it was Vivi this man saw. In any case, the foot soldier volunteers did canvas the area and new signs and posters have been put up around that area just in case.

As soon as the call came in we contacted Laura Totis and Sam Connelly of Maryland to see if either were available to at least confirm whether or not it was Vivi this man saw. Neither tracking teams were immediately available to make the trip.

A second call came in today from a woman in Rego Park who noticed one of the new posters up. She asked another lady who was passing by if she ever saw this dog, and the lady said that someone told her they did. Unfortunately, again, there’s no way to confirm this as she heard it from someone who heard it from someone else, and we have no idea when the dog was seen.

In any case, we immediately called Sam Connelly to see if she could come in and though she was planning on doing so this weekend, she’s come down with a bad cold and cannot make the trip. We are awaiting a call back from Laura Totis to see if she is available to come in as soon as possible. I also made a call to Debra Adler from New Jersey, but was unable to contact her.

We are working on having a tracking team come in, check the Rego Park area first and then check those other areas the volunteers here feel Vivi may be. This would pretty much leave no stone unturned, so to speak.

Unfortunately, the DNA results from the stool taken from Forest Park near where tracking team Laura Totis’ dog picked up Vivi scent turned out not to belong to Vivi. Thanks to the American Kennel Club and the folks at their DNA lab for helping us out.

Two more night-vision goggles and two more bionic ears are being purchased for those volunteers on the ground, that are able to go out at night searching.

We are following up on a few phone calls that came in as well, but for various reasons, I cannot elaborate about them here.

With dog shows coming to Queens at the end of the month, we’ve contracted Sign-A-Rama of Middle Village, who made up the magnetic Vivi signs, to make up corrugated signs, double sided, to stake into the ground and the kennel club has been kind enough to allow us to set up a table at the show with information about Vivi still being missing.

There are also dogs shows this weekend in Long Island, where my club, the Big Apple Sighthound Association, is having a lure-coursing demonstration. I’ll make sure to have info on hand there as well.

Wouldn’t it be great to see Vivi run onto the field to "catch the bunny"!

Once again, thanks to everyone for their help, kind words and support.

Still keeping the faith,

Bonnie>>

Rosa Chile was at the bus depot where her roommate and fellow Vivi searcher Tina Potter works today when a Sam, a fellow bus driver, approached them.

Though he sees Tina every day, Sam didn't know how involved she was in the search for the famous whippet who escaped from the nearby airport this winter.

But when he noticed the metallic "Lost Dog" sign on Rosa's car, he relayed this story:

In mid-March, Sam was driving his bus on Rockaway Boulevard near 147th Street when he noticed a homeless man who frequents the neighborhood. Sam knew the indigent man had a knack with animals -- locals in this corner of Jamaica sometimes ask him to help coax their hesitant dogs home -- and Sam was accustomed to seeing him walking dogs of various breeds, from Rottweilers to even a poodle.

But on this day, Sam took particular note of the dog the homeless man was walking on a piece of rope, because she seemed too "classy" for the company she was keeping: a knee-high white dog who looked for all the world like a miniature greyhound.

According to Rosa, Sam said he called the Port Authority about the sighting.

Was this Vivi? If so, it explains the mysterious piece of rope that was seen around her neck by a man who fed her bread through the fence at Flushing Cemetery later that month.

But it doesn't explain what one homeless guy in Jamaica did to corral the  little slip of a dog that has otherwise eluded dozens of searchers and a smattering of professional pet detectives.

Perhaps his unobtrusiveness, his stillness, his quiet energy, is what attracted her. Those qualities probably also drew her to the handful of young children she is believed to have approached during her otherwise people-skirting travels.

It is a lesson Vivi lovers might take to heart as they try to channel their energy positively and calmly in an effort to spark more sightings and bring her that much closer to home.

Team Vivi is cautiously optimistic about a sighting that came in today.

Diehard searcher Rosa Chile received a call today from a woman who said she heard thirdhand that Vivi was running on 99th Street between 64th and 65th avenues in Rego Park.

The woman said she has been on the lookout for Vivi since she was lost more than seven months ago. She said a passerby told her that someone else told her that she had seen a dog matching Vivi's description, and that it appeared frightened, but was unclear on the time frame, though it was recent.

This area is several blocks east of where a tenuous Vivi sighting was called in last week by a man who could not give any additional identifying information on the dog. It is north of Forest Park, where Vivi was last seen by multiple park visitors in early August. It is also southwest of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where Vivi was sighted in late March.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz confirms that she is working on bringing in a tracker -- likely either Laura Totis or Sam Connelly, both of whom have tracked Vivi before.  In addition to checking Rego Park, the tracker will search other areas that New York-based searchers think are potential places for Vivi to hide.

I have editors yelling at me that this blog is now resembling a fifth-grade schoolyard brawl. There's not much I can say to refute that.

Now is the time to develop some self-control and think before you type.

This blog, like any community, is a place where people are expected to treat each other with respect. Name calling, accusations and thinly veiled profanity have no place here.  We recognize the importance of the free exchange of ideas, but not at the price of basic decorum and respect.

Individuals who from this point on continue to make inflammatory posts will have their posting privileges suspended. Alternately, the entire "comments" function of the blog can be disabled.

The only four-letter word I want to see on this blog is:

Vivi.

The contents of this post have been removed.

Diehard Vivi searcher Rosa Chile confirms that a caller reached her last night around 6 p.m. claiming to see Vivi in the vicinity of Queens Center Mall.

Rosa says the caller sounded like an older man with a heavy Russian or Eastern European accent. He was likely calling from a pay phone, and Rosa was not able to call him back and establish more details.

Rego Park (short for "Real Good Construction Company," which developed the area in the 1920s ) is a very densely populated area, with active subway stops, major shopping areas and very little open green space. 

Vivi volunteer Diane Tamm sends on these PDFs of the most recent flier for the world's most famous missing whippet.

Click Download ViviBWFlyer092006.pdf  for the B&W flier.

Click Download ViviColorFlyer092006.pdf  for the color flier.

Earlier this month, dog droppings were collected in an area in Glendale, Queens, where Vivi's scent, however faint, was detected by scent dogs. A sample was mailed to the American Kennel Club's DNA lab, which has DNA from Vivi's dam and sire on file.

Rick Patterson, fiance of Vivi's co-owner Jil Walton, says that the lab's preliminary findings suggest that the droppings are not Vivi's. Follow-up tests are being performed to definitively confirm that assessment.

Vivi has not been sighted since August 7, in the vicinity of Forest Park in Glendale.

Search-and-rescue dog handler Harry Oakes  left New York this afternoon to return home to Washington State.

Oakes did not find any fresh scent from the whippet during his searches. Likewise, he says, his search dog Valorie did not alert on any "death scent" on Vivi.

In a report prepared for Terri Corrigan of Arizona, who hired him, as well as Vivi's owners Jil Walton and Rick Patterson, he concluded:

"There is a 95% probability that Vivi has been stolen (persons picked her up, kept her without reporting finding her to the authorities).

"There's a 4% probability that Vivi is deceased and we haven't located the area where she's died at. [sic]

"There's less than a 1% chance of probability that we're wrong."

The report did not contain an explanation of how Oakes arrived at these probability percentages.

Some longtime Vivi searches have expressed dismay that only a small group of individuals were involved in Oakes' search, which was funded by private donations and orchestrated by out-of-stater Terri Corrigan. This is not the first time that a pet detective has requested that only a handful of individuals be informed and on-site when active searching was underway.

Pet-related search and rescue is still an ill-defined area with no clear standards of practice. Indeed, pet detectives differ widely among themselves over methodologies, and even the suitability of certain scent dogs. Oakes, for example, believes that dogs trained for human search and rescue can be used for missing animals as well; Karin Goin of Oklahoma, who came to New York to search for Vivi when she was first lost, disagrees, saying search-and-rescue dogs cannot be used because their training discourages "crittering," or following animal scents.

What all pet detectives seem to share is an unshakeable conviction in the superiority of their particular dogs and search methods.

Rick Patterson says that though Vivi searchers near and far have often squabbled over the best way to search for the missing whippet, there is at the heart of the matter some very common ground.

"One thing we've said from the start is that everybody's heart is in the right place -- everyone wants Vivi to be found and returned to us,"  says Rick, who is also busy readying for his November nuptials to Jil. "We keep trying to come up with different things, and we will continue to try to find her."

Vivi volunteer Terri Corrigan called today from Arizona with an update on search-and-rescuer Harry Oakes.

Terri reports that Harry arrived in New York over the weekend and has been canvassing the locations of Vivi sightings with his 12 1/2-year-old Valorie, who is a border collie/Schipperke/heeler mix.

Harry and Valorie did not find any fresh scent, though they continue to follow up on sightings, some of which turned up old scents. So far Valorie has not alerted on any "death scents," and based on the evidence so far Harry has tenatatively concluded that the missing whippet is likely not dead, despite the fact that she has not been sighted in  more than a month.

Harry will be providing a full report of his findings and conclusions to Vivi's owners, Jil Walton and her fiancee Rick Patterson.

Terri stresses that his visit could not have been possible without the help of many private benefactors, all of whom she thanks from the bottom of her heart.

Bo Bengtson, Vivi's breeder, writes:

<<Vivi Update - September 12, 2006

There is much happening right now so I’m glad Bonnie sent an update [see previous blog entry].

... Jil and Rick are Vivi’s primary owners and they have OKed [Harry Oakes'] involvement, the rest of us of course want to go along with that. Rick has assured me that Mr. Oakes will stay in touch with the regular group of volunteers. As both he and Bonnie say, we have nothing to lose at this point.

Rick says: “Mr. Oakes’ assistance in the search for Vivi in Queens is made possible through the generous donations of many animal lovers around the country. The owners and volunteers on the ground in Queens are working with Harry Oakes to assist him in his search. We certainly hope that a new dog nose can add value to our continued search. I am in dialogue with Terri Conley and Harry Oakes on a daily basis. I have talked to Rosa and Tina about their availability to help Harry on the ground in Queens. They have told me that one of them will stay with him on the search.”

As mentioned earlier, a stool sample that Rick collected during his searches is being analyzed at a lab, courtesy of the AKC; with the help of DNA from Vivi’s sire it will be possible to tell with about 99 percent certainty if the sample is from Vivi. The result should be available next week. It would be the first conclusive evidence that Vivi is still around in a long time.

It is nearly seven months since Vivi was lost. Cindy Scott sent me a very interesting and encouraging story about a Whippet that was gone for eight months, through a Midwestern winter, and returned safely; with permission I will post this story separately later.

Thanks for all your kind thoughts!

Bo Bengtson>>

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this update in the wake of news that yet-another pet detective, Harry Oakes, is alighting on the Vivi case:

<< Vivi Update - September 12, 2006

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this report:

<<Vivi update 9/5/06

It's been almost one month now that there have been no sightings of Vivi. Don't know what to make of this, but the possibilities are endless.

Rick Patterson made another trip to New York, took a red-eye in on August 22, picked up a rental car and went straight out to Forest Park to start laying down his scent, re-establish some contacts and scope out areas of interest Vivi may be drawn to.

We were fortunate to have Laura Totis stop by with her tracking dogs on August 25 after she finished working another case upstate New York.  Though her dogs didn't pick up any scent around the pond area, they did show some interest in another part of the park.  It is in this area that Rick found stool similar to that of Vivi's and took it as a sample. Not sure what he was going to do with this, and unsure if any info could be made with the sample, he asked my veterinarian, Dr Theresa Paoloni of Vet Care Unlimited, to see if there was a possibility of finding out what had been eaten as there was some sort of fur mixed in.

Vivi volunteer and Flyer Queen, Diane Tamm and some out of state volunteers, took further steps to find out if there was any way we could have the poop DNAed. After numerous phone calls, the AKC was contacted and agreed to test the stool to see if in fact it does belong to Vivi. The AKC's lab has been shipped the sample and we are awaiting the results. If this comes back as a positive for Vivi, this would be better than any sighting we've had to date. Amazing what can be done with DNA these days. 

Thanks again to Michael McCann, who also made a trip down to NYC to help with the search efforts and again assured us that we are doing everything, and then some, to find Vivi.

Karin Goin was scheduled to come in on August 29 with a few tracking teams but had to cancel at the last minute due to her dogs becoming ill.  I hope they have since recovered and are all okay.

I've been told another tracking team, Harry Oakes, may be coming in to help find Vivi, I don't have many particulars at this time and will forward them along as I can.

I continue to monitor two feeding stations, and Vivi team members continue to check various areas and keep the flyers posted. Rick did get what he originally thought was a white dog feeding at one of the stations, and the possibility came up that the sightings of August 7 could have been of that dog.  As the next few days followed, it became clear that this dog, a boxer mix, was not white, but tan in color with no other markings. The camera or card reader had originally washed out the dog's color.

We had a group of nine Vivi volunteers gather last week at the bridle path on the east side of Forest Park to check the trails. There are just too many to check, as the marked trails have numerous side trails leading off of them. All trails are through heavily wooded areas, and we did find quite a few spots Vivi could use as dens.

After purchasing a Bionic Ear, Rick continued to wander the park and cemeteries trying to tune out the crickets and listen for the possibility of puppies. He returned home on Friday.

Rosa and Tina have returned from their vacation, and I'm sure will be back in action immediately.  They never really took a vacation from searching for Vivi, as they continued to monitor the 800 number, receive updates and make phone calls.

Though I've not been able to send weekly updates, please know that the search effort continues. Not much to report, as everything has been pretty much status quo with no sightings. We are all doing what we can, and we continue to keep the faith.

Regards,

Bonnie>>

File under "You can't make this stuff up."

Rick Patterson, the fiance of Vivi's co-owner Jil Walton, has been in town for the last week canvassing the Glendale area where Vivi was last sighted lo so many weeks ago.

In an area where scent dogs recently indicated a mild interest in Vivi's scent, he found some whippet-sized droppings.

Could they be identified as Vivi's, he wondered, using state-of-the-art DNA identification?

The American Kennel Club has now said it will try to find out.

Under the AKC's DNA Certification Program, cheek swabs from registered dogs are genotyoed and entered into a database. These DNA "fingerprints" may then be used to determine -- or disprove -- parentage. (With some dogs, such as frequently used sires, DNA registration is mandatory.) Both Vivi's sire and dam have submitted DNA to the program.

The AKC will analyze the droppings found in Glendale to see if the dog that produced them could be the offspring of Vivi's parents.

The proof, it seems, is in the poop.

Pet detective Karin Goin called today to say she will not be coming to search for Vivi after all.

Goin, who was conducting a seminar for aspiring pet detectives in upstate New York, had planned to drive down to New York City today. But a stress-related illness that was affecting three of her dogs prompted a trip to an emergency vet. He advised Goin to return home to Oklahoma and cancel all work for the next couple of weeks to allow the dogs to rest.

Vivi searchers were out in force this weekend, including Rick Patterson, the fiancee of Vivi ci-owner Jil Watson, fresh from California; greyhound recovery expert Michael McCann of Massachusetts; and detection-dog handler Laura Totis, who had searched for Vivi before in other neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, a canvassing of the pond area in Forest Park yielded no "hits" by the search and rescue dogs. The dogs did show some interest in the nearby golf course, but the scent likely was not fresh.

Film recorded at one of the Forest Park feeding stations showed a small white dog and her larger companion chowing down. Unfortunately, the white dog was not Vivi, and there are concerns that some previous sightings may have been of this dog.

Given that Vivi has not been sighted in weeks, two conclusions are possible: One, that she has moved on and is in another area. Or two, she has whelped puppies in the vicinity and is staying close to them.

Searchers are in the process of obtaining a "bionic ear" hearing amplifier, in the hopes of hearing Vivi if she is bedded down in the adjacent acreage or graveyards.

Pet detective Karin Goin is expected to arrive later this week to help track down the little whippet that has, in McCann's words, "broken all the rules" as to how runaway sighthounds are supposed to behave.

The second in an occasional series that introduces Vivi searchers near and far.

Name: Karen Stinnett
Location: Jeffersonton, Virginia -- aka "horse country."
Age: "I forget. Oh, yeah. 50."
Occupation: Artist and art teacher
Fur-family: Karen has three rescue dogs -- Grace E and Patch, who are border collies and enthusiastic agility competitors, and Phoebe the collie -- as well as Big Kitty, a 20-pound Maine coon. Two "constant visitors" include a Springer spaniel and "one who looks like Cousin It from 'The Addams Family.'"
Favorite American idol: "They all look the same to me."
Pet peeve: "I hate meetings, even more when they pass out an agenda and then read it to you."
Hobbies: "Agility, which took the place of horses after the horse I had for 25 years died of old age. Patch’s hobby is running in circles around the UPS truck when it stops in the driveway."
Favorite flick: "I like to watch the video I have of the 1973 Belmont Stakes, never tire of it." Also: Fellini’s "Amarcord."
Role in the Vivi search: "Coordinator of the out-of-town search-support effort" best describes it. Karen also sends out a daily electronic Vivi update.
Why she started the e-mail updates: "I saw a lot of people who wanted to help, but had no idea what to do. As it has gone on, we all begin to forget who has been called and when. I have almost 600 saved emails in my Vivi Bulletin file and probably that many on my laptop."
Who gets them: An assortment of people who are willing to help, fax, mail and make calls.
How someone gets on the "in" list: "By helping. I only send to those who have been willing to do something concrete. Then the blog can be for everything else."
Most moving thing about the email list: "We have one person who is a 9/11 survivor who says she survived in part by going home to a little dog who has since died of old age. She says to her, Vivi has come to symbolize 'the one who must be saved.'"
What it's like to watch the Vivi search from afar: "Sometimes it's stressful, because we cannot see for ourselves what is happening. Sometimes, wacky. I find myself explaining it while, say, visiting friends in Maui. 'I have to check my email because I am searching for a Whippet in NYC!' 'Oohhkay,' they say.'"
Toughest agility moment: After Grace E (right) did one jump in a series of them, Karen heard a gasp from the crowd: Her dog had had diarrhea between the first and second jumps. On AstroTurf, no less. "That’s a disqualification, by the way. And I got to clean it up, with an audience."
Most embarrassing thing your dog's ever done: While Grace E takes the cake (and most likely ate it, too), Karen's late German Shepherd, Zak, mistook her car for a pickup and jumped on its roof, and ate a Thanksgiving cheesecake while visiting a family Karen barely knew. He also mounted a woman from behind as Karen was talking to her. "I saw his paws appear around her waist. I could go on ... "
What the blog has taught you: "You can get to know people you have never seen."
What people say when they see one of your paintings: "One hundred percent of the time, the question is, 'How long did it take you to do that?' Then they often say, 'My house needs painting. Ha ha.'"
Ever plan to paint Vivi? “I usually paint architectural subjects, but for fun and friends I often paint animals and have a portfolio of them. I painted a greyhound last year. So, perhaps.”

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz checks in:

<<Vivi Update - 8/14/06www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5638218 

Tuesday, August 15, marks the sixth-month anniversary of the day that Vivi was lost by employees of Delta Airlines at JFK Airport. As I reflect back on that day, I can remember exactly what I was doing when I found out about the whippet lost in the airport just minutes from my home. I thought I'd grab a coat and gloves and run out quickly to help corral the dog. She'd be on her merry way, back to wherever it was she was flying off to in no time. Never, ever did I imagine that six months later, I would be sitting here typing "updates" to the world on the progress being made to still try and find Vivi.

Funny how the careless actions of one can change so many lives, huh?

The Vivi Team spent much of last week making phone calls and typing emails coordinating what our next move would be. Trying to stay ahead of Vivi has not been easy. We're happy that Vivi has been in and around the same area for about two months now, but pinpointing a specific location or even a few block radius of where she may be, is anyone's guess. We are working with a huge, in some spots, heavily wooded, park and cemeteries spanning a good couple of miles, not to mention the various neighborhoods bordering them.

We've set up a feeding station and a couple of cameras, but are having instances with the cameras not working properly. I hope to get this issue resolved as soon as possible as these cameras are our eyes when we cannot be around.

After Denise Flaim's article last week on Viv's upcoming anniversary, National Public Radio called to do a phone interview.

The Vivi Team was also contacted by the NY Daily News, the Queens Tribune and People magazine to do follow-up stories. Some of the local radio stations picked up on the story and mentioned Vivi as well. Keeping Vivi alive in the media is very important to our search effort as it will help us to keep the public aware that she is still missing. Though we continue to post up fliers, these may sometimes go unnoticed by someone who may have seen Vivi and may read about her or see her on the news.

This weekend's "Vivi Door Hanger Blitz" went fairly well. We had about 15 volunteers on hand to put door hangers out to nearby residences, posting and reposting where flyers may have become weathered or torn down as well as canvassing the area.

Jil's fiancé, Rick (Vivi's  dad-to-be), will be back in New York within the next week or so. We are also looking into bringing tracking dogs back to possibly narrow down an area where Vivi may be frequenting so we can concentrate on a smaller area for feeding stations. We need to have Vivi comfortably coming back to a feeding station on a regular basis before any talk of actually trapping her can be done.

Lots of small steps to take before Vivi is back home, but the Vivi Team volunteers have shoes with thick soles (well, maybe a few holes here and there), and we are keeping the faith!

Bonnie>>

National Public Radio chimes in at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5638218

Be sure to listen to the audio.

Not-so-little birds tell me People magazine has been sniffing around, too!

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz updates:

<<Good news! We received two sightings of Vivi, back to back, on Monday afternoon just a half hour apart! Seems that Vivi has been in Forest Park and surrounding areas since mid-June. For those who do not know Forest Park, it is densely wooded in many spots, unlike the other parks Vivi has visited before, with ample supply of water and a wildlife buffet.

As I surveyed the recent sighting area, I heard a small rustling in the brush. I looked down to see a beautiful black kitten, maybe 10 weeks old, staring back at me. As I tried to approach her, she scrambled away a few feet and turned back to look at me. As I continued on my walk I heard squeaking from that same area. I took a few steps back to look at the kitten and this time when she looked up at me, she had a field mouse in her mouth. All I can say is, if this young kitten is hunting and surviving in this park, Vivi is probably doing just fine.

We are hoping Vivi has become comfortable with her surroundings and will stay in there till she can be trapped. Vivi will be missing for six months this coming Tuesday. I know there are many cases of lost dogs being missing for longer periods of time and continue to pray that she will be back with Jil soon.

We are in the process of setting up feeding stations with motion cameras and ask that anyone that would like to help in the search and visits the park or surrounding area, please, DO NOT leave food out for her when you go. It has become more of a hindrance than help with too much food being left out. We also know trampling the area looking for Vivi will only startle her and drive her away. It is suggested that those who wish to help, find a spot within the park or cemeteries and simply sit and watch. You may want to bring along binoculars and some tasty, smelly treats and make believe you're snacking on them while nonchalantly "bird watching" per se. This is probably the best way any  of us will be able to spot her and keep her in the area.

We are also working with tracking dog people to come in and possibly give us a better look at where Vivi may have been and narrow down the area.

I am coordinating a "Vivi Door Hanger Party" this Saturday, starting at 8 a.m. We will meet at the Forest Park Band Shell parking lot just inside the park on Forest Park Drive off of Woodhaven Blvd in Glendale. The door hangers have been ordered and we plan to get them out to as many homes as possible. We are in dire need of volunteers. Please, if anyone can come out, meet us on Saturday. If you cannot be out at the time we are meeting, please contact me and I'll be glad to get you supplies and provide you with what blocks still needed to covered, 917-626-1374.

We can ALWAYS use any extra help anyone can give, even if it's for a few hours during the week. There's been a break in the heat wave we've had here in NYC and the weather looks good for the days ahead.

We hope to get more media coverage to help with our continued focus on keeping the public aware that Vivi is still missing and has been seen.

Numerous volunteers continue the email, fax and mailing campaign as well as those on the ground posting fliers. These are truly Vivi's angels.

Thank you, Denise and Newsday, for keeping folks aware.

I appreciate everyone's continued support.

Keep the faith!

Bonnie>>

<<In tomorrow's print editions, and currently up on the Newsday.com home page, along with a slide show. Denise>>

Search for 'Vivi' continues

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

August 8, 2006, 8:03 PM EDT

Remember Vivi? A handful of diehard searchers do.

Tuesday marks the six-month anniversary of the wandering whippet's escape from her crate at Kennedy Airport after she competed at the Westminster dog show (left, with handler and co-owner Paul Lepiane). Though Vivi's owners eventually returned home to California, the search for their dog never stopped. In fact, it has taken on a life of its own.

There's a toll-free number, 877-JFK-VIVI. There's a conga line of sightings all over Queens, a half-dozen of which were confirmed by tracking dogs. (The latest, albeit unconfirmed: On Monday two passersby reported seeing her in Forest Park in Glendale.)

And, not least of all, there's a small army of two dozen or so volunteers, both local and long distance, who send e-mails and make phone calls, staple posters to telephone poles, and follow the roaming whippet's every move, real or imagined, on blogs and e-mail lists.

"They call me the Flier Queen," says Diane Tamm of Flushing, who estimates 50,000 fliers depicting the white and brindle whippet have been tacked up since that frigid February day when she bolted into the airport marshland. Another 15,000 wait in her garage.

The coming months could provide a break in the search for the AWOL whippet, who looks like a miniature greyhound: Vivi was expected to be in heat in late June, and last month the normally reclusive whippet was spotted with a pack of stray dogs.

Motherhood could curtail Vivi's wanderlust, at least temporarily, says Michael McCann of Randolph, Mass., an expert in corraling renegade greyhounds, some of which spend more than a year on the lam.

Even in such company, Vivi stands out. "This whippet has got me crazy -- she just isn't routine driven," says McCann, who spent a weekend canvassing for Vivi amid the whoosh of Woodhaven Boulevard. "No matter what you do, she pops up somewhere else a mile down the road."

Indeed, Vivi's Tour de Queens most resembles a game of hopscotch: Venturing into Jamaica from the airport, she surfaced in Flushing, then followed a greenbelt of parks to College Point and Whitestone. By May, she was spotted in St. Albans. After a detour to suburban Valley Stream, Vivi headed back west to Glendale, where she has been seen since mid-June.

Whippets, like greyhounds, are sighthounds -- speedy dogs that hunt by sight. Perhaps harking to their ancient nomadic roots, "they turn into wild dogs very quickly," McCann says. "And they turn back to good house dogs 10 seconds after you catch them."

Vivi doesn't seem to much miss domestication. She avoids baited traps, runs from strangers, and likely survives on trash-bin hors d'ouevres. With such an independent dog, McCann says, there is only one remedy: tincture of time.

"You're not going to catch a sighthound that can run 40 miles an hour, and she's not going to go up to somebody," he says. "The likely scenario is she'll go into a yard or garage and someone will close a gate or door behind her."

The waiting is the hardest part, concedes Vivi's breeder Bo Bengtson of Ojai, Calif. "I never thought she would cope" with the tundra-worthy East Coast winter, much less the traffic, he muses. "For this little show dog to have that much resourcefulness is pretty impressive."

What's even more stunning, he adds, is the outpouring his "Elvis phantom" dog has generated among complete strangers a continent away. "I don't want to be ungrateful, but also wish other dogs could get this attention."

Some have. In their travels, Vivi volunteers have rescued a Dalmatian, a Pomeranian, four kittens abandoned in a Dumpster and a litter of nine puppies living in a hollow tree in a cemetery, among others.

But Vivi still tops their list. Tamm owns four whippets, the youngest of which resembles Vivi, and "I can't take her for a walk without getting dirty looks," she reports. Rather than a bother, it's proof to Tamm that Vivi is still on people's radar screens.

"I wanted her to be the most famous whippet in the world," Bengtson says. "But I didn't want her to be famous for this."

For updates on the Vivi search, visit newsday.com/animalhouse.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

AP Photo/Westminster Kennel Club>>

After lying low for an excruciating (to her searchers, at least) two weeks, Vivi resurfaced this afternoon -- not once, but twice.

Two passersby called the Vivi hotline around 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to say they had startled the whippet while she had been bedded down in the brush in and around Forest Park in Glendale. In both cases, she bolted. This is the same area where Vivi has been spotted multiple times in of July.

While these Vivi sightings are indeed welcome news, the hope is that searchers will focus their efforts on raising awareness of Vivi's presence among area residents through putting up fliers and posters instead of trying to "track her down."

Sighthound rescuers such as Michael McCann of Greyhound Amber Alert stress that in order to capture lost dogs such as Vivi, the goal should be to encourage her to establish a routine -- something she has not done to date. Generating too much activity and disturbing her at a time when she seems to be making herself at home could prompt her to move on into newer -- perhaps more dangerous -- territory.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this update:

<<Vivi Update 7/31/06

Sorry for not getting out an update last week.

Unfortunately there's have not been any confirmed sightings since my last update.

We did receive a call last week of Vivi being spotted foraging through the grass at the service road of the Van Wyck Expressway just before the Long Island Expressway on ramp.  The caller said he though by the size and color it could have been Vivi but could not confirm her markings as he was driving by too fast.

Volunteers were on the scene within minutes but, as with all our sightings, when volunteers appear on the scene Vivi has already moved on.  This service road does run along the back of yet another cemetery, Mt Hebron Cemetery.  Another of Vivi's M.O.'s.

We did post flyers up and put inserts/ door hangers out to the houses in the surrounding area.  This new sighting is just opposite Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

We also got a call from a woman claiming she's been seeing a man walking a whippet around Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village.  I drove around the park numerous times during the hours this woman had seen the pair but was unsuccessful in locating them.

The following night, another call to the Vivi number came from a worker at the Starbucks Coffee shop at the Stop & Shop shopping center where Vivi's has been spotted in before.  The caller just served a man who was walking a whippet and she thinks it is Vivi!

Fortunately I was driving home after canvassing Juniper Valley Park and the area surrounding Woodhaven Blvd and Metropolitan Ave when I got the call of this sighting.  I have to tell you, when I pulled up to the traffic light and looked over at Starbucks, the man was sitting outside drinking his cup-a-joe and the dog laying next to him was surely a whippet. AND from where
I was, looked as though had the brindle marking of Vivi!

As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed that this whippet was white, light beige and brindle.  Add that to the fact that it was a male.  I approached the man with my Vivi cards in hand, told him about the call I just received and he knowingly nodded his head.

He told me he's been getting many strange looks since the fliers have been put up about Vivi in the area.  One crazy person walked up to him and told him he wanted to take the dog from him and turn it in for the reward!  I apologized for the inconvenience and suggested laughingly that he wear a shirt that says "This Is Not Vivi!"

He also told me of another whippet that lives in the area (we already know about her), and said he's usually out walking his dog in Juniper Valley Park a this time! I thanked him profusely for letting me know as THIS was the guy and dog I had just drove around looking for!  At least we
wouldn't have to spend any more time canvassing that park.

A sighting on Saturday morning placed Vivi at the beach of Charles Park in Howard Beach, practically in my own backyard!  The man was very sincere and truly thought he had seen Vivi while fishing along the shore at 5 a.m.

He said he tried to approach her and she gave him a bark (not a characteristic of Vivi's from what I understand) he took about 15 minutes trying to get close to the dog, scooching closer while sitting on the sand; however, the dog got up and trotted into the park, where he lost sight of her.

Not having the phone number but knowing about Vivi since he works in the airport, he went to the Port Authority police at JFK. They didn't have the number and apparently were not too helpful.  He then called the vetport and got the Vivi number as soon as it opened at 8 a.m.

I immediately called some friends in the neighborhood as well as Bobbi from Bobbi and The Strays to let her know to keep her ears open she contacted her local volunteers and the park had fliers up within the next couple of hours.  We received information that the dog this man
called about was in fact a pointer.  There was also a Jack Russell terrier running loose.  Both were known to Bobbi's local rescue volunteers and they've  been trying to trap them.

Many volunteers have been out in this New York heat posting fliers and we are glad to have added two new volunteer foot soldiers to the team. So many far-away volunteers continue to mail, fax and email flyers to the  different businesses in the areas.  Police and Sanitation dpartments have been alerted again.

I believe with this heat, we will not have many sightings as Vivi is a smart li'l girl and is probably keeping cool somewhere.

With not many sightings coming in, trying to decide where to post next becomes a challenge.  There are neighborhoods in Queens not yet hit with posters and if  possible those are the neighborhoods we'll concentrate on next.  Though there haven't been sightings there, ya never know where Vivi may turn up next.

Happy to report the puppies rescued from Montefiore Cemetery, have all been adopted from Bide-A-Wee!  YAY!

We're still working on having New York City's Animal Care and Control trap the pack of dogs Vivi may be hanging with as well as the mommy dog and her friends from Montefiore Cemetery.
For everyone that has sent encouraging emails, thank you.

Trying to keep cool and always, keeping the faith!

Bonnie>>

When it comes to Vivi, no news is, well, no news.

There have been no bona-fide confirmed sightings of the errant whippet in about two weeks. Conspiracy theorists, hold the phone: Given the current weather in New York -- including a triple-digit heat wave expected to continue for several days -- it is very likely Vivi is keeping cover in one of the borough's many shady parks.

On a happy note,  searcher Darlene Sullivan reports that all but one of the "tree puppies" -- a litter of strays found in a Queens cemetery during the Vivi search -- have found adoptive homes. And that lone straggler was being snuggled by a potential adopter when Darlene checked in, so the odds are he is finding a bright future even as you read this.

Members of the Bankhead family (from left, Kodi Bankhead; her mom, Heather; and her father, Dan) are reunited with Puppers, the family dog, at the South Salt Lake Animal Shelter on  June 28, in South Salt Lake, Utah. Puppers, a cocker-retriever mix, had been missing for nearly three years. Puppers disappeared from the Bankhead family's fenced yard while they were out running errands. They looked everywhere and called all the local animal shelters, but were unable to find Puppers. Out of the blue, Puppers turned up at the South Salt Lake Animal Shelter and was identified when shelter workers scanned his imbedded microchip.

(Photo credit: Associated Press)

After more than two weeks without a sighting, Vivi resurfaced yesterday. A passerby saw her at the intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard in the Glendale, Queens, neighborhood that Vivi seems to have made her temporary home.

The passerby indicated that Vivi was only using three legs. According to Vivi's owners, the athletic whippet would sometimes come up lame when she overexerted herself and would recover within days. There is also the possibility that the city's hot asphalt streets have taken their toll on her pads.

Two feeding stations have been set up in the area, with a third one soon to come online. The video cameras at the stations are being checked twice a day.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz adds that fliers and door hangers need distribution on Metropolitan Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard and Yellowstone Boulevard. A group of dedicated searchers was out yesterday doing just that in the broiling weather. If you need fliers or door hangers, email Bonnie at pawsativebf@aol.com.

Twenty magnetic signs for local trucks will be ready in the next few days.

There's cheery news for the litter of nine puppies rescued from Montefiore Cemetery in Laurelton by Vivi searchers: Three have found permanent homes, and six are being fostered and nursed back to health at Bide-a-Wee in Wantagh. Vivi volunteers from near and far raised money for vet bills for their upper-respiratory infections, crates, toys and a donation to Bide-a-Wee.

"There are now nine Vivi angels on the ground," says Bonnie, adding that the " Bide-a-Wee bunch" has been given trees names, reflecting their place of birth, a hollow tree in the cemetery.

Good luck, girls Holly and Maple, and boys Spruce, Chestnut, Hickory and, uh, Elmer.

Also on the agenda: Trapping and spaying their mother, who is still living in the cemetery.

The latest Vivi update from search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<Team Vivi Update 7/11/06

Six days gone by and no new sightings.  Either Vivi has found a comfortable spot within the 530-something acres of Forest Park and additional surrounding cemeteries or she has, yet again, moved on to a new area.

Feeding stations, with motion-sensor cameras, continue to be monitored. So far, the photos show some very happy raccoons and a cat, having a midnight snack.  If no results by tomorrow, they will be moved to a new location.

We had a few volunteers come out on Saturday to help put up posters and flyers. One gal stopped by on her way from Washington, DC,  to her vacation home, and spent the first morning of her vacation helping to get the word out and poster the neighborhood. Thanks, Lori. 

Some of our core volunteers are leaving for much needed vacations within the next week or so. This cuts down the handful of volunteers that have been out on a daily basis, following up on sightings, monitoring feeding stations, putting up posters and flyers and getting the word out to the general public. We could use any and all extra help at this time.  If anyone is available, even if its for an hour or two during the day or night to either follow up on sightings, monitor a feeding station or, most importantly, get those posters and flyers up,  please contact me 917-626-1374 or pawsativebf@aol.com

The magnetic signs were proofed today and we should have 10 of each 12x18 and 22x28 ready by the end of the week to get out to the various trucking companies that are helping us out by placing them on their vehicles.

I received a call from a neighbor Sunday evening that a Dalmatian had wandered into her yard and was very afraid. Fortunately for this dog, I was home and just happened to have a few volunteers, Rosa, Tina and Barbara-Jean at the house. We immediately grabbed a leash and treats and headed over there.

We found a very sweet female Dalmation, with a worn-out collar and rabies tag from 1987, very scared of the fireworks going off in the area due to the fanfare of Italy winning the World Cup. We loaded her into the mini van and cruised the neighborhood looking for her owner. No one had any idea who she belonged to. Barbara-Jean was gracious enough to take her for the night as phone calls were made to Bobbi from Bobbi & The Strays and other rescue folks in the area.

Barbara-Jean followed up on the tag information Monday morning which came up with and old address and a phone number that had been changed to a non-published number.

At least we had a last name to follow up on.  I broke out my handy-dandy phone book and left messages for those listed with the same name.  Receiving a call back after about an hour, “Queenie” apparently broke out of her yard after hearing the fireworks Sunday afternoon.  She was reunited with her owner that afternoon.  Thanks, Barbara-Jean, for taking Queenie in for the night.

Please get the word out as to how important it is to have a collar on your dog at all times with “current” identification. The tag “Queenie” was wearing belonged to the man’s last dog, which had passed away, and he had since moved.

Praying for better information to give you with the next update.  Till then, hug your hounds.

Keep the faith!

Bonnie>>

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz writes:

<<We were fortunate to have some good media press out about Vivi still missing
this week keeping people aware that Vidi is still missing, however, the new
areas she has moved to need some personal attention with posters and flyers. 
Seems as though there are some spots within the park that need coverage, the
immediate area around the park has been taken care of but we also need to widen
our circle.  As the experts say, lost dogs usually travel in a circle continuing
to widen the circle as they go. 

We need help!  As much help as possible.  The weather for this weekend looks
bright and sunny.  Lots of folks will be out and about and the more people that
see the flyers or that we can give a post-card to and speak to personally, the
better our chances of sightings and bringing Vidi home.

Please see if you could possibly take some time out to help spread the word.

The Vidi base will be set up from 10am till 12pm at the Forest Park Bandshell on
Forest Park Drive just off of Woodhaven Blvd.  If you are unable to meet up with
us during that time for supplies, please call my cell 917-626-1374 and I'll make
sure to get some supplies to you.

Thanks for all of your help.  Hope to see you tomorrow.

Keep the faith!

Bonnie>>

Vivi has been making herself at home in her adoptive borough of Queens, with multiple sightings in the Glendale area in recent days. They include:

July 4 -  9 a.m. - 80th Street and Myrtle Avenue, Glendale, drinking out of kiddie fountain in park.

July 5, 3 a.m. 75th Street and Atlantic Avenue, Cypress Hills.

July 5, 9 p.m. crossing Woodhaven Boulevard near Forest Park Drive, heading in direction of carousel.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz asks volunteers to please concentrate posting fliers along and within the following perimeter area:

To the south: Jamaica and Atlantic Avenues

To the north: Metropolitan and Cooper Avenues

To the west: Fresh Pond Road, Cypress Hills Street and Bushwick Avenue near the Jackie Robinson (formerly Interboro) Parkway.

To the east: Lefferts Boulvard

For those who are unfamiliar with this area, it is relatively congested, with single-family frame houses as well as brick multiple-family dwellings. Think "King of Queens" and "All in the Family." This southwestern corner of Queens is home to many old, large cemeteries of various denominations, as well as sprawling Forest Park, which connects many of the areas where Vivi has been sighted.

Because of the media interest generated in recent days, searchers Rosa and Tina have had difficulty keeping their cell phone lines open to sighting calls, and would appreciate it if non-essential calls were kept to a minimum.

The latest report from search coordinator Bonnie Folz. As a bit of trivia, Harry Houdini is buried in nearby Machpelah Cemetery in Glendale, right off Cypress Hills Street.

<<Vivi Update July 4th

Whippet fancier Jackie Levin sent this email update to Vivi's breeder Bo Bengtson, and has given permission for it to be reprinted here.

<<Dear Bo,

I wanted to give you an update about the Cesar Millan speaking engagement at the Bronx Zoo held yesterday. I am going to ask your indulgence in a bit of background first. The only NY volunteer who felt she might be able to attend was Gail Thomas. As time grew closer, she said she wasn’t sure if she would be able to attend, as she is so busy searching. I am unable to travel at the present time, because of health issues.

A friend of mine who has two of my whippets, no internet access and is handicapped in a wheelchair, decided she wanted to contribute to the Vivi search by attending. Until this point all she has been able to do is pray. This dear, 63 year old woman, Charleyne Kershner, took a bus, taxi and then another bus from Nazareth, Pennsylvania to the zoo yesterday. She felt that since she is in a wheelchair, she might be fortunate enough to be placed up front with easier access to Cesar. She went dressed with a bright yellow T-Shirt with Vivi’s approved poster on it, that she had made. She also took several hundred flyers.

Not only was she able to talk to Cesar about Vivi, but the large crowds at both the morning and afternoon sessions were made aware of Vivi’s plight. Most already knew about her and assumed she had been captured. Charleyne gave out several hundred flyers and made contact with many interested people who will keep their eyes out and also inform others. After hearing about Vivi at the talk, a gentleman named Glen Andrews from Animal Care and Control (website www.nycacc.org ) , which has chapters in all five NY boroughs, said he and his group are VERY willing to help when there is a sighting. He said his group helped look for her some months ago, but then he never had any more communication from the volunteers for help, so they assumed she had been captured. He can be contacted at gandrews@nycacc.org. He took quite a few flyers, as did several groomers who attended the speaking engagements. The rest were handed out to the dog lovers who attended and were very receptive. I believe she planted many seeds of hope in reuniting Vivi.

During the question and answer time, Cesar called on Charleyne immediately. She gave him a brief over-view of Vivi’s plight and his suggestions were as follows:

• It is imperative to keep her status in the public eye so she can be reunited if someone finds her and she trusts them enough to go to them. Especially so, because the audience reaction was that everyone assumed she had already been captured.
• He totally agreed that anyone hoping to capture her needed to behave in a very submissive way. Preferably turning their back on her, sitting down, no eye contact and no talking. Calm energy is essential.
• When she is sighted, because anything can cause her to bolt, it would be best if several people could go and form some sort of circular perimeter around her from a distance. This would be the only way to know the general direction she is traveling in, with hopes of getting ahead of her.
• He suggested that small articles of clothing with Jil’s scent on them be placed in plastic bags and sent to the volunteers who are searching and putting up posters. The item (socks would be inexpensive) should be kept in the bag, carried by the volunteer, until a sighting has occurred. If the volunteer is within "sighting" distance from Vivi, the bag should quietly be opened and allow Jil’s scent to be released and smelled by Vivi. He said it is important to remember that the very first sense that dogs use at birth is scent and this they still use first, even a sighthound. Also, if she stays in an area, then other items with Jil’s scent can be placed around the perimeter of the area and the center if possible. Remember dogs have about 220 million scent receptors, while humans have only about 5 million.
• Wild dogs often travel in circles and food can be the motivation to widen the circumference of the circle.

I realize many of these suggestions have been implemented, but I wanted to accurately state his suggestions, even if they are repetitive. Charleyne had brought another "Vivi t-shirt" with her, that she hoped to give to a NY volunteer, for more exposure. When she realized she was the only one there, she decided to present it to Cesar, in hopes that if he thinks of any more suggestions, he’ll have the number to call, right on his shirt! He was very kind to her.

I realize many, many people have done so much more for Vivi, but I thought you might find the special circumstances of this handicapped woman heartwarming. Although she is not an AWC member, as we are, she gives true meaning to our Code of Ethics which states, "Each member shall take all appropriate measures necessary to assist any whippet in distress in any circumstances."

Best wishes,
Jackie Levin Fyrefly Whippets >>

From search coordinator Bonnie Folz. Rick is the fiance of Vivi's co-owner, Jil Walton, and he has been in the area recently to help with the search for his step-whippet.

Vivi is now moving into my old neighborhood in Queens!

Denise

<<As Rick, scours the neighborhoods, he talks to everyone he possibly can about Vivi and her plight and the fact that she IS STILL MISSING.  One thing that many people, not hearing anything more about Vivi, think she's already been found.

It seems that when there are no legit sightings within a few days to a week, that usually means that Vivi is on the move and she sometimes moves into areas that do no have posters and flyers up.

Apparently this is the case again as we received calls this week that Vivi was in the Glendale, Queens, area on Monday morning and afternoon and sighted in Forest Hills, Queens, the later part of this week as well. 

New areas, no info. 

With that said, we need to step up and get the word out to the following towns: Woodhaven, Glendale, Richmond Hill, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Middle Village, all in Queens.

I understand some folks were contacting the various municipalities (sanitaion, police, transit, etc..) as well as businesses.  If you can do the same for these new areas, that would be a huge help.

As I look on my famous wall map of Queens (some of you may remember it from being bungied to the side of my minivan) It looks as though our Miss Vivi may be traveling back to the Flushing Meadow Park area.

Rick has talked to the folks in Forest Park and will inform us as to how we can post the info within the park.  He also feels some neighborhoods (such as Forest Hills Gardens) would be better to receive door hangers instead of posting info on poles.

Anyone that needs further info please contact me Pawsativebf@aol.com

Those that live or work in the neighborhoods listed, please tell everyone you know to keep a look out for Vivi and not to chase her.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Keep the faith.
Bonnie>>

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this on:

<< Team Vivi Update 6/20/06

Vivi's breeder brings us up to speed:

<<UPDATE TUESDAY JUNE 20, 2006

    Last week’s possible Vivi sightings, at least some of which seemed reliable, produced a general feeling that we were getting “close” but did not materialize into something more tangible. I am impressed that more than four months after Vivi’s disappearance there are still volunteers who are willing to help put up posters, etc. Other than that and making sure that the “Lost Dog” ads keep running in the local newspapers there is not much anyone can do.

    The media is still interested. A journalist from Associated Press’ National Desk requested interviews with Jil and Paul, Honi and Bonnie last week, and Denise Flaim had an excellent nearly full-page article in Newsday on June 5 about the “continuing saga” of Vivi’s disappearance. She points out that “Vivi-mania” still rages, with up to 5,000 hits per day on her blog (www.newsday.com/animalhouse).

    George Bell who has a long experience of Greyhounds and Salukis makes a suggestion that won’t help Vivi but may be useful for those who ship dogs or let them run in unfamiliar areas. George gives Westminster Kennel Club’s Dave Frei credit for bringing this up. He writes:

    “The so-called telemetry devices used in open field coursing could be used with frequent flying show dogs. We have done a great deal of research on different types of devices to locate lost dogs. It has  been years since we have lost a dog in the open field ... The type commonly used in the field are tiny transmitters made for falconry. The dog wears a lightweight elastic harness and the antenna/transmitter attaches to the harness with velcro and weighs about an ounce.”

    My concerns about the transmitter getting stuck while the dog is in a crate are apparently not founded. “It is a very tiny antenna made of spring steel and would break away if somehow it got stuck in a crate. The harness is made of lightweight elastic and would also break away if somehow it got snagged.”

    John Burchard explains further: “The antenna is only about seven inches long and sticks straight up from the dog’s shoulders. The whole thing is in a flexible mount (a baby-bottle nipple, in fact), so it folds back if the dog goes under something, and then springs up again afterward. It’s held on the dog by a harness made of inch wide elastic webbing which in the field is additionally held in place by the usual coursing blanket (typically lycra). I don’t suppose it would be a bad idea to put a fluorescent pink or orange blanket on a dog in shipment, anyway. It makes a dog easy to spot at a great distance. The transmitters cost on the order of $200 each. The directional receiver costs around a thousand, but you wouldn't have to buy one of those. Just phone the local falconry club if you actually lose a dog. There is a falconry club in nearly every state.”

    Perhaps this suggestion may prove useful to those who fly dogs often.>>

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz emails:

<<While reading today's Newsday I noticed there's an ad for a lost dog, white Bull Terrier named "Teddy" from the Little Neck, Queens area on June 11th.

I contacted the owner to get some specifics since it's quite possible one of the Vivi volunteers may come across Teddy while they are out.  The owner faxed me a copy of Teddy's lost dog flyer and I've made copies to hand out to the volunteers if needed.

Teddy is friendly and approx. 3yrs old.  He was adopted by his current owner from rescue about 7 months ago (saved from an abusive situation).  He was not wearing a collar when he got loose from his yard. The owner is devastated. 

Could you please put in a good word for Teddy on your blog and ask that if anyone sees Teddy to please call his owner at 718-225-1113?>>

Happy to oblige. :-)

The latest from rescue coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<Happy to report two new sightings the end of last week. One of which was made by a Team Vivi volunteer! and the other confirmed by a neighbor in the same area. 

From search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<

ANIMAL HOUSE

The saga of Vivi continues ...

Denise Flaim
Animal House
June 5, 2006

Whatever happened to that whippet from JFK?

I get that query via e-mail at least several times a week, not to mention the computer-less lady in Galveston, Texas, who calls every month or so.

Most everybody knows who the JFK whippet is, thanks to the media splash her disappearance made in mid-February: Vivi, a California show dog fresh from competing at Westminster, sped off into the airport marshlands after breaking free from her crate.

What many don't know is that Vivi is very much around - in cyberspace, at least.

Soon after Vivi's great escape, I began chronicling search efforts on my blog (www.newsday.com/animal house). Among other things, it explains why recovering Vivi would be such a challenge: Sighthounds, bred to chase fast game, are notoriously independent and quickly turn feral when lost. It's like trying to catch a cat on rollerskates.

The blog has become an electronic tapestry that documents the twists and turns of the Vivi search: The fruitless first days at the airport, from pawprints on the restricted shoreline to quilt-wrapped traps that stayed empty but for the occasional irate tomcat.

Then, in mid-March, a breakthrough: two pet-detection dogs picked up a trail that led to 110-acre Baisley Pond Park, just north of the airport.

Days later, Vivi surfaced in Flushing: She scarfed down bread tossed by a resident and touched noses with a Doberman out on a late-night walk. Again, tracking dogs confirmed her presence. Kissena Park, downtown Flushing, the Queens Botanical Garden, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park - Vivi toured them all. Volunteers widened the circle with their "lost dog" fliers, which sanitation workers then removed with great efficiency.

In April, Vivi headed north, with sightings in College Point - where camera-monitored feeding stations are still watched - and later Whitestone. By May, the "I-saw-a- little-white-dog" calls shifted south, to Alley Pond Park.

And then, barely two weeks ago, the wandering whippet's latest curve ball: Unconfirmed sightings back near Kennedy Airport - Brookville Boulevard and South Conduit Avenue in Rosedale; and 105th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard, and 144th Street and 119th Avenue, both in Jamaica.

Late last week, a sighting put Vivi in Valley Stream, near its eponymous state park and Franklin General Hospital.

What to make of this travelogue? On the one hand, it may be a stunning testament to the connectedness of the borough's greenways. (Unlike Van Wyck-obsessed Elaine Benes on "Seinfeld," it looks like Vivi takes the Cross Island and the Southern State.) On the other hand, callers are inclined to call any little white dog Vivi.

And what of recent reports of a whippet stopping traffic on the Hutchinson Parkway in the Bronx? Does Vivi do bridges? Is she still even alive?

Meanwhile, Vivi-mania rages on my blog, to the tune of 5,000 hits a day. Volunteers who call themselves "foot soldiers" report on where fliers are needed. Others obsess that Vivi is in heat and birthing illegitimate "whip-pits." Despite repeated assertions from experts that sighthounds are usually caught by luck or accident, frustrated "doers" float dangerous notions such as dart guns and drop nets. A lady named Sharon from Michigan posts a daily prayer - or two, or three.

And Vivi's owners and breeders - who have returned to their daily lives on the other coast - look on, grateful for the support, but keenly aware of its disproportion.

"There are thousands of other dogs out there who deserve every bit as much attention," writes Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson, who has repeatedly said that chasing or approaching Vivi is only more likely to make her run.

But like Barbaro the injured racehorse, Vivi is a reverse Cinderella. Her showdog status satisfies our fascination with the elite and beautiful, while her misfortune elicits emotions - pity and concern - that democratize her.

The blog's comments percolate with compassion, as well as snarkiness ("I can search better than you") and obsession (with rival splinter groups of searchers). They say far more about human nature than they do about Vivi. For better or worse, the blog is a community - or maybe a cult - centered around a little snip of a lost dog. And no matter what the pushpins on the map say, it's the one place on Earth where you can always find her.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

Vivi's breeder Bo Bengtson wrote this editorial for the June 2006 issue of Dogs In Review, for which he is editor-at-large. It is posted here with permission from the magazine.

Obligatory disclaimer: It reflects his opinion, and not that of Dogs in Review. Obligatory language alert: It contains the "B" word, a common noun used among dog folk to describe the female of the species, irrespective of how she is acting that day.

<<FLYING HIGH… OR STAYING GROUNDED?

Most dog people are dependent on the airlines to some degree. We ship puppies across the country and abroad, send our best bitches to be bred to a stud dog far away, hop on a plane to go to a show and take the dog along. If it’s too big to fit under the seat in the cabin, the dog has to be checked as excess baggage. Flying has become a part of life; something we don’t necessarily enjoy but have gotten used to. Dog shows and breeding would perhaps not cease to exist without air transportation, but they would certainly be a lot different.

How risky is it to fly your dog? Is it just my imagination, or are things getting worse than they used to be? Everyone I know has a horror story to tell, but I wanted to find some hard figures.

To begin with, I consulted the Air Travel Consumer Report, which includes an enormous amount of data regarding flight delays, denied boardings, complaints, etc. Flipping quickly to “Consumer Complaints” I was surprised to find that no airline had a single complaint listed in the “Animals” category for the month of February, 2006. Since a dog that is near and dear to me was lost by Delta Air Lines at JFK Airport in New York on Feb. 15, 2006, that seemed odd until I realized that only complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation were included. If you only report the loss to the airline it doesn’t show up in the Consumer Report.

Apparently dogs lost as excess baggage are included, but not specified, among the 265,610 pieces of luggage that were “mishandled” during February this year. Is it too much to expect that a dog should be treated a little differently than a suitcase? For one thing, it’s a living being; for another, we pay a lot of money to ship our dogs.

TRANSPORT SECURITY REGULATIONS

Useful information was provided by Rudolph H. Auslander of the Japan Airlines Management Corporation, a 37-year veteran of the airline industry, a dog lover and a volunteer with an English Springer Spaniel Rescue group. He writes that since 9/11 and the implementation of the Transportation Security Regulations, unaccompanied baggage is carefully screened behind the scenes after you give it to the airline for check in. That could involve a security official taking a dog out of its crate to screen it once you have left, and this, of course, increases the risk for disasters of the type we experienced. It also means that it doesn’t matter how well you secure the crate: the door may still be opened when you’re not there.

Asking the major airlines’ customer representatives directly did not prove  informative either. You would think press credentials and an offer to present the airlines’ views to thousands of active dog fanciers would meet with more than an automated reply, but that was not the case. (Delta’s only response was the following: “This is an automatically generated message. Please do not reply.” According to the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets, Delta filed for bankruptcy protection last September, but admits that the potential pilots’ strike that has been brewing recently could put the airline out of business. Obviously they have bigger problems than a lost dog.)

STILL AT LARGE

So what’s the solution? Get a small dog which fits in the cabin? Stay at home? Return to the days when dog people leased a cargo plane to fly together from the West Coast to Westminster, as apparently happened in the ’50s? I wish I had an answer, but I don’t.

According to the Department of Transportation, “Over two million pets and other live animals are transported by air every year in the United States. Federal and state governments impose restrictions on transporting live animals. In addition, each airline establishes its own company policy for the proper handling of the animals they transport.” In other words, you need to compare the regulations before deciding which airline to use.

The problems we are experiencing in flying with dogs may be part of a bigger concern: lower standards in the airline industry across the board. Data released by the USDT indicate that service deteriorated in all major categories in 2005. Bill McGee writes in USA Today (April 19) that “there’s little question that contracting out more and more tasks to lower-paid and less-skilled workers is affecting all aspects of airline customer service,” none more so than baggage handling, where complaints rose more sharply than in any other area.

So should you fly with your dogs? Should you ship dogs at all, knowing what we do about the treatment dogs may be subjected to by the airlines? It’s up to you, of course. I was lucky for years, but that doesn’t help when calamity strikes.

What I want to tell you is that once an accident happens, you will probably be on your own. Perhaps other airlines act differently, but Delta’s behavior was such that our lawyer issued a statement saying, in part, that “Delta’s actions are contemptible. Delta negligently lost [the] dog Vivi, then was further negligent in failing to properly help find her.” The lawyer did not receive a written response from Delta; their Customer Claims Manager advised her that “legal will not respond until a lawsuit is commenced.”

Meanwhile, Vivi is still at large, more than two months after someone let her out of her crate while in Delta’s care at JFK. She has braved New York winter and traffic, hunted live game, fended for herself and stayed alive. She has been sighted regularly but remains as elusive as a ghost and obviously far from her old, trusting self.

It’s even more frustrating than I thought was possible, but we still hope there will be a happy ending and are deeply grateful for all the support and kindness shown from throughout the dog fraternity.

Thank you!

Bo Bengtson, Editor-at-Large

P.S. Since the above editorial was written in early May, Delta Air Lines provided a slightly more extensive response than that quoted above. It did not include any information that was not already available, but at least Delta was not any less cooperative than the other airlines.>>

Elaine Benes of "Seinfeld" fame may take the Van Wyck, but with Vivi, my money's on the Cross Island.

Vivi's hopscotching around Queens at first seemed unfathomable: After lingering in the JFK Airport area for a month, she suddenly resurfaced more than 10 miles to the north, in Flushing. From there, she gained access to an interconnected parks system that let her bop from Kissena Park to Flushing-Meadows Corona Park to Alley Pond Park, and plenty of residential communities in between.

Last month, she reappeared in the Rosedale and South Jamaica communities that ring JFK Airport.

How did she invisibly traverse this oftentimes congested borough from top to bottom? Via the Cross Island, of course. The parkway, which runs north at its inception just east of the airport, where the Belt Parkway ends. It passes right by Belmont Racetrack as well as Alley Pond Park, and it terminates in Whitestone, one of the areas where Vivi was last seen before she reappeared in the JFK area last month.

Is it possible that when Vivi decided to head back to the airport again, she just jumped back on to this bucolic, greenery-shrouded parkway? Why not?

The most recent, albeit unconfirmed sighting of Vivi yesterday in Valley Stream was directly off the Southern State Parkway. The Southern State also connects with the Belt Parkway, which passes the airport: It heads east to Long Island, while the Cross Island aims north toward the Whitestone Bridge, its terminus.

For out-of-towners who want to understand the context of the Vivi sighting in westernmost Long Island, Nassau County is a suburb of New York City and is less congested than the borough of Queens, which borders it to the west. Think classic suburbia, with its neatly tended lawns, Levit-built Cape Cods -- and plenty of picket fences behind which Vivi could be contained by a quick thinker.

Though Nassau County does have a significant horse population, many of barns and stables are located on the North Shore, far from Vivi's current location. On the South Shore, with its proximity to the ocean and beaches, boating and fishing are popular.

Should Vivi continue her eastern migration on the Southern State, she could find herself in the mahvelous Hamptons well before the end-of-season Labor Day barbecues. Pushing farther eastward, there is Montauk and its iconic lighthouse, and then ... Portugal.

Bonnie Folz calls to say that there was a reported Vivi sighting yesterday morning in the Valley Stream area. If true, this means that Vivi has headed east of the airport, crossing out of New York City and into suburban Nassau County.

Bonnie asks that if there is anyone willing to post fliers around Valley Stream State Park as well as the streets around Franklin General Hospital, please contact her at pawsativebf@aol.com.

Colleagues and friends who ask occasionally if Vivi has been found, get the stock reply -- "No, not yet."

That invariably invites a second question:  "Why is she so hard to catch?"

And I reply, very simply, "Because she's a sighthound."

If Vivi were a golden retriever or a border collie or a Maltese, she likely would have been caught within days of her JFK escape when she approached a human for food or comfort or direction. But sighthounds are the antithesis of the indiscriminate gregariousness of the sporting dog, or the frenetic interactiveness of the herding dog, or the lap-craving neediness of the toy dog.

Arguably only sighthound people -- those who own greyhounds or deerhounds or salukis or Afghan hounds or, yes, whippets -- can truly appreciate the depths of their breeds' independence and self-reliance. (I could add basenjis and Ridgebacks and Irish wolfhounds to the vaunted "S" list, but them's fightin' words in some quarters!)

Even dog-savvy folks who have been around canines for decades can't truly appreciate a sighthound's independence unless they have lived with one, or spent a good deal of time with one. These dogs have a hair-trigger prey drive, and an ability to flip the switch in their heads from domestic to feral very quickly. Most are reserved around strangers, if not oblivious to them, keeping their affection for those they know and love. They have the body of a dog, but the soul of a cat.

They are also most decidedly not reflexively biddable. Go to any dog show and see how many sighthounds are entered in Obedience. And when one makes a rare appearance in the ring, there's a good chance the owner will wind up doing the off-leash heeling pattern on her own, while her trusty little sighthound looks on smugly or feigns sniffing a very interesting blade of grass.

Oftentimes, this extreme sighthound independence is misconstrued as a lack of intelligence. As a protest to Stanley Coren's book "The Intelligence of Dogs," which listed border collies as the smartest breed and Afghan hounds as the dumbest, the Afghan people (the fanciers, not the nationals) made up a Tshirt: Emblazoned on the front was a cartoon of an Afghan hound peering over the edge of a cliff at a pile of dead border collies.

This quick-wittedness, intelligence, reserve and self-reliance are what makes the sighthound a fearless and oftentimes ruthless hunter. It is also what makes her near impossible to catch once she has left her old life -- what she remembers of it -- behind.

(Addendum: For the record, I am not a Vivi pessimist, and am not saying that she will never be caught! But, as Vivi's breeder Bo Bengtson has said repeatedly before, the odds of her being caught in a straightfoward manner -- "Here, Vivi, Vivi, Vivi!" -- is highly unlikely. Instead, serendipity -- her wandering into a yard or garage, and then being contained by a smart owner -- is a much better bet. All the more reason to raise community awareness through posters and fliers.)

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this on:

<<Team Vivi Update, June 1, 2006

For all those who requested, the most recent Vivi flier: Download LOSTDOG040406.pdf

Is it me, or is there a nice, Irish Spring-clean kind of feeling on the blog today?

Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson, sends this update.

<<UPDATE TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2006

In the June issue of “Dogs in Review” magazine I wrote about the experience of dealing with the airlines concerning the risks of flying with dogs. It has been suggested that it might be helpful to reprint that editorial in this space. I have asked the company which publishes “Dogs in Review” for permission to do so and will post it here if they agree.

Julie and Kathy Jones, the “Basenji Sisters” who were the first to call us when Vivi was lost in February, have come up with the good idea of donating the dog food vouchers they win at dog shows to Bobbi & The Strays, the non-profit rescue operation at JFK which has been so helpful in trying to locate Vivi. If anyone else wants to donate unused dog food vouchers, send them directly to Bobbi & The Strays, P.O. Box 170129, Ozone Park, NY 11417.  It may not help Vivi but it will help other strays. Thanks for this, Julie and Kathy.

The overwhelming response from almost everyone we have dealt with has been incredibly supportive and helpful, but there are a few people out there who are obviously unbalanced, aggressive and ready to attack anyone who does not agree with them. Denise Flaim has decided to start blocking some of the “cruel, negative and (from some of what I have seen) slanderous things about people involved in the Vivi search” posts on her Newsday blog. As Denise say, “Even my 2-year-olds know better than some of these people.” There is absolutely no excuse for criticizing those who unselfishly devote so much of their time and effort to help. We have great faith in Honi Reisman, Bonnie Folz and all the others who have assisted in the search effort so far, especially of course Rosa and Tina who still check out every lead and every sighting.

Yes, it is frustrating that Vivi is still on the loose after more than three months. There is a very natural feeling of wanting to “do something” or “go out and get her” ...  but you have to use common sense and accept that, as all those who have real experience of lost dogs keep telling us, everything that can be tried has been tried, and the only thing that can get Vivi back right now is “luck.”

Please be aware that if you take action on your own, against the wish of the owners and the advice of the experts, you may risk Vivi’s existence. If you need to be reminded of all that has been tried, and all we have learned of feral dog behavior, please see my earlier updates on www.awc2006.com.

    Thanks,

    Bo >>

Up until now, I have taken a Darwinian approach to this blog, letting it evolve naturally and rarely if ever commenting directly on content people choose to post to it.

But instead of survival of the fittest, it seems this blog has gone in the direction of survival of the nastiest.

If you want to post cruel, negative and (from some of what I have seen) slanderous things about people involved in the Vivi search, do it on someone else's blog. I can and will delete entire postings or threads, as well as block the ISPs of people who cannot control themselves, or their egos. Believe me, I don't want to do this -- I have a family and a full-time job and a bunch of dogs that need my time and energy -- but I will not tolerate this any longer. Go pee on someone else's hydrangeas.

My point in creating this blog was to give people a place to learn the latest information about Vivi, and to communicate respectfully with one another. It was not my intent for this to evolve -- or should I say de-evolve -- into a place where people make themselves feel better or more important by denigrating others, or where a vocal minority bullies those who do not agree with them. If you want to do that, do it someplace else.

To the vast majority of Vivi lovers who have put up with this nonsense for far too long, my apologies.

Denise

Bonnie Folz, coordinator of the Vivi search, sent this recap of a recent Team Vivi meeting to be posted to the list.

Vivi, ever the iconoclast, seems to have traveled back to the JFK Airport area. So much for the theory that aliens transported her from South Jamaica to northern Queens.

As Bonnie notes in these minutes, she will be sending me a weekly update to post to this blog.

On a personal note, it is my hope that this blog be a source of help, not hindrance, to the Vivi search. Reading various posts (not to mention some off-list emails that float my way), I sometimes wonder.

<<Minutes of the Team Vivi Meeting
May 25th, 2006

Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson, counsels patience.

<<UPDATE TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2006

    One of the best advisers in the first weeks of Vivi’s disappearance was Michael McMann of Greyhound Amber Alert. He has more experience of retrieving lost Greyhounds than anyone else I know of. Michael was busy with other rescues at the time, but I contacted him again in a last-ditch effort to find some solution or suggestion we have overlooked that could help us get Vivi back.
   
    Following are parts of Michael’s email, which he has allowed me to share:

    I have no idea how many searches I  have personally participated in. I would guess that it's over a hundred. Of those, all but five have been found. I really don't know, but maybe about 20 or 30 of those I captured myself. In October 2004, Jeff Rosenberg, owner of Greytalk.com, asked me to moderate a new forum, The Greyhound Amber Alert. Since then we've been able to help over 280 families and adoption groups organize searches and captures of lost or loose hounds. We haven't always been successful. By my count, 204 have been captured, 36 have been found dead, and 43 are still unfound.

    Believe me, I know how frustrating this is. I have had some success, but not because of any special skill, but only because I don't give up easily. Vivi just needs someone not willing to give up. I don't think my camping out down there will increase your chances much. What you need are thousands of sets of eyes. The flyers and the volunteers are already providing that. It's just a matter of time before a sighting and a volunteer come together at the right time and place.

    The Greyhounds I've captured in the past have usually settled into a territory. They stay within a mile or so from the center of it, and usually keep to a pretty set routine, especially once they find a regular source of food. The hardest part of this thing is to get Vivi into a routine. Since she's trap shy, we would have to be able to get close to her to catch her. In order to do that we have to get her coming back to the same location daily.

    As for the reported sightings: I've been hunting loose characters like this for a long time. One thing I've learned over that time is to check out every single sighting, but be suspicious of all of them, unless you get a confirmed sighting from someone who knows hounds. People are always willing to help, but they will report anything that looks vaguely like a hound. Just a couple of weeks ago I drove forty miles on a "confirmed sighting" by a local lady, just to find her new neighbor's Great Dane. 

    Whippets and Greyhounds have been bred for centuries to be survivors. They are very fast, extremely cunning,  and within hours of being on the run, they are feral. Capturing a hound who can run over forty miles an hour and doesn't want to be caught is not easy: you have to have committed volunteers, helpful neighbors, and most of all, a little luck. From what I have seen and heard, I can tell you that you have all the elements of a successful search in place. All you need is the last one, a bit of luck.

    I have spent months at a time trying to capture elusive hounds like Vivi. In 2004-05 I spent 13 weekends in Bennington, Vermont, trying to capture a shy, spooky female named Cavan. She spent a total of seven months living through a frigid winter before she was struck by a car. She survived and lives with me now along with three other hounds, all runaways, that have ended up with us. Our oldest, 13-year old Barney, had been living on his own for a year before we captured him. I've always tried to make these searches group efforts, and it's really more important that the dog be found than personally catching him/her. I have written articles about finding and capturing lost Greyhounds for Celebrating Greyhounds magazine, as well as many adoption group newsletters.

    A couple of my articles, along with a lot of other helpful information can be found at the top of the Greyhound Amber Alert Forum: <http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showforum=24>

    Thanks, Michael. Obviously the biggest problem is that Vivi is NOT coming back to the same place to eat, and the fact that there are many places where she can find food means that it has not been possible to establish a “feeding station” for her, and also that she is not likely to go into a trap.

    As Michael says, what we need is luck, and that can take a very long time to kick in. It’s very difficult to have enough patience.

    Bo>>

Vivi breeder Bo Bengtson writes:

<<UPDATE TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2006

    Apparently some well-meaning people are planning on hiring their own “pet detective” with tracking dogs in an attempt to find Vivi. Please be aware that this is not something that anyone has discussed with Vivi’s owners or breeder, nor with the people in New York whom we have agreed to let us help with the search effort. While we are very grateful to everyone who wishes for Vivi’s safe return, we absolutely advise against any independent efforts to “catch” or track her down. The only thing such an effort is likely to achieve is to frighten Vivi further, perhaps even make her leave the area where she has obviously learned to cope and survive on her own. The results of this could be disastrous, exactly the opposite of what you intend.

    If you have any ideas or suggestions for how Vivi might be returned to us, please let us know. Chances are that we have already tried what you have in mind, but we appreciate your suggestions. We have at this point tried everything that is realistically possible (and a few things that probably weren’t) with no success. We have already used three different pet detectives with tracking dogs on at least four different occasions, and it was useful to learn that the tracks showed that Vivi had in fact been in the area. Tracking dogs will not catch Vivi, however. We didn’t expect them to; nobody who knows anything about lost dogs would believe that Vivi will come up to anyone who is following her with tracking dogs.

    All this doesn’t mean that we don’t have plans. We do, but they certainly do not involve scaring Vivi out of the area where she apparently now is.

    If you care about Vivi and want her to get caught, please do not do anything without discussing this with us first. As we have said before, the ONLY thing you can do – other than put up flyers and posters so the local residents know who Vivi is if a miracle happens and she’s accidentally caught – is to sit on a park bench with your lunch and maybe a small, friendly dog as company... and keep watch. Even if you should see Vivi you should not try to catch her until you are absolutely sure that you can do so. She is much faster than you are and extremely wary since there have obviously been many who chased her already.

    See the guidelines below for how to act around Vivi if you really want to get her back.

    Thank you!

    Bo


HOW TO GET VIVI BACK...

Guidelines for How to Act around a Runaway Dog

The following applies to most dogs that have gone "wild" and do not want to be caught.

The bottom line is: you cannot "catch" a spooked Whippet. Attempts to chase, catch, surround or contain Vivi will have the opposite effect, scaring her further away.

If you see Vivi:

1. Do not get out of the car close to her, don’t slam the car door and don’t call her. You will only frighten her further.

2. If possible sit down on the ground, eat something (noisily!), share with her if she gets close, drop some food on the ground. Talk to her gently and casually, as if you see her every day and don’t care that much about her. Don’t even look at her. If she lets you, pet her gently but do not try to grab her. She is much faster than you are and cannot be caught until she wants to.

3. You should not have a big or noisy dog with you. If you have a calm whippet or small dog on a leash and Vivi is nearby, make a big show of feeding your dog. Nothing makes her hungrier than seeing another dog eat.

4. Do not walk directly toward her; avoid eye contact; act casual but friendly. Not until you can quietly put a strong leash with a choke collar around her neck should you try to do so, and don’t even do that if you are not experienced enough to deal with a dog that might easily panic.

5. In a best case scenario, quietly close a door or gate (a tall one, she can probably jump 6 feet if necessary) behind her. If not, just making non-threatening contact is a huge step forward, and establish a place where she can be fed.

6. The most important thing right now is that Vivi should not feel chased or "hunted" so she doesn’t feel like you’re moving into her comfort area

7. If you catch Vivi, put her in a car or safe room ASAP. Make sure nobody accidentally opens a door. Be calm and quiet, don’t scare her and CALL 1-877-JFK-VIVI (1-877-535-8484), or 917-626-1374, or 516-776-0923 - IMMEDIATELY!

Losing Vivi after "nearly" catching her will make it even more difficult to instill confidence in her again. She has most likely been chased by more people than we know who grabbed for her in misguided attempts to catch her. Much better to encourage her confidence by feeding her, leaving her alone and petting her if she lets you — until you are SURE you can catch her and put her inside a car or a safely confined area. >>

On Thurs., June 22, Posh Nightclub at the Garden City Hotel hosts a Charity Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction to benefit Bobbi and the Strays.

For those who have been on the Vivi trail since its earliest days at JFK Airport, Bobbi's outpost in the airport cargo areas was a frequent meeting spot and "refueling" station for posters and flyers.

While Vivi eventually headed northward, Bobbi and the Strays continues to do its quiet, unassuming work, helping homeless dogs and cats in this under-served area of southeast Queens.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Bidding begins at 8 p.m. Ticket price is $35, which includes buffet and one complimentary drink.

Alas, hotel magnate Brian Rosenberg is happily married and will not be on the block.

For ticket information, email egiurco@optonline.net, or call (516) 679-5556.

An update from Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson:

<<UPDATE AS OF TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2006

    We are very grateful for the volunteers who are still willing to help make sure that Vivi’s picture and name are familiar to almost everyone who lives in the areas where she has been seen. It’s difficult to accept that she has been around there for so long without anyone being able to catch her, and it is sometimes also difficult to believe that she is in fact out there, but there are fairly frequent sightings. Even if some may be discounted others sound very reliable.

    Gail has set up several feeding stations, one of them inside a small tent, and has set up a motion sensitive camera that would take a photo of any animal — hopefully Vivi — that is touching the food. If it turns out that Vivi is coming back to the same feeding station chances that it may be possible to establish contact with her. Traps have not succeeded so far but may be the only possible solution.

    The best thing anyone can do to help is just sit on a park bench for as long as possible with a book and a sandwich (ready to share if Vivi turns up), and perhaps a small, non-threatening dog as company. If Vivi should be seen she should be treated as if this were an everyday occurrence, with just casual friendliness, treats and no attempts to catch her until it’s quite certain that it’s possible to put a safe slip-lead over her neck. Please see “How to get Vivi back” on this website (www.awc2006.com).

    It is clear, however, that Vivi must be coping well on her own, succeeds in finding sufficient food, and although she is often close to people she is very wary of being caught – most likely after earlier attempts to do so. She is also still ranging over such a vast area — over a thousand acres — and not following any established pattern in her movements, which makes things even more difficult.

    We are trying to remember that some of the lost racing Greyhounds were successfully retrieved after many months, even more than a year... but it’s difficult to wait so long.

    Bo >>

These two questions arrived via email today:

<<I heard Vivi was found and recently entered in a dog show in Portland, OR. Untrue? What is the current status?>>

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz responds: "Did she win?"

Unfortunately, Vivi has not repatriated back to the Other Coast.  We still believe her to be hanging around northern Queens, eluding searchers, hopscotching around city parks, and generally being the picture postcard of whippet ingenuity and independence.

There was another reported sighting this morning in Oakland Gardens, in the vicinity of Alley Pond Park.

<<You have been so kind to have the on going blog about Vivi. Several "bloggers" have been wondering if you will be shutting it down. It is for course you choice to do so. After all it is your space. If you are planning to terminate the use for the Vivi bloggers, please let us know so maybe we can relocate. It would be terrible to check in and find it gone and not know where to go for information. >>

I started this blog in the weeks preceding Westminster to discuss animal topics in general, and to complement my weekly  Animal House column in Newsday. I thought the timing was perfect -- and it was! When Vivi made her great escape, it seemed natural to use this blog as an information source and contact point for searchers, sighthound people and basically anyone who was touched by Vivi's story.

As the weeks -- and months -- wore on, Vivi's owners and the main searchers realized what the experts had been saying all among was true: that intense, targeted attempts to catch her were more likely to drive her away. As the media attention dwindled, as it inevitably does, the focus turned to raising and maintaining awareness about Vivi's presence in the Queens communities where she has been seen.

And so while the dedication to the Vivi search remains unabated, the tone and pace of the search have changed. Breeder Bo Bengtson's emails have gone from lengthy daily missives to weekly reports. And so, too, the frequency of updates to this blog has slowed. That's just natural, because there's just only so much to say.

On a personal note, my posts of late have been pre-empted by a happy occasion: the arrival of 10 magically delicious Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies, who turn 4 weeks old today.

Thanks to Vivi, this blog has grown and grown, and now there's a bustling little community here. Sure, it has its share of dysfunction, but what gathering of animal people (or people in general) doesn't?

While we wait for Vivi to allow herself to get caught, there are plenty of other things to discuss and debate. As with the boarding-kennel vaccination post I made earlier in the day, there are always opportunities to make a difference.

So, all this is to say that, no, I have no intention of shutting this blog down. And, yes, I plan to start posting more often, in between scooping piles of ever-growing Ridgeback poop. Whenever there is Vivi news -- or maybe even when there isn't -- I'll update you about the  little white and brindle runaway. And as other subjects come up, I'll post them too, if only to give us something to do until the day she shows up.

I posted this Bo update earlier in the week, but the blog ate it!

<<UPDATE AS OF TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2006

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this on:

<<Once again we will have the "Vivi Base" set up at Utopia Parkway and Peck Ave this Saturday, April 29, from 7am till 12pm. for whomever needs flyers, posters, tape, etc...supplies for the week.

I believe I had much success handing out flyers and postcards to motorists that stopped for the traffic light in front of one of the shopping centers last week.  Mind you I was wearing a neon pink sign around my neck with Vivi's picture and "LOST DOG last seen IN THIS AREA Call Immediately 877-JFK-VIVI."  I may have looked a bit odd but just about everyone I asked to take a flyer from me did as they read my sign.

At the suggestion of one of the volunteers, Gail Thomas, this week we will be asking for volunteers to stake out the various "crossings" from one neighborhood to the next.  At these intersections you can distribute flyers as well as watching for the elusive Vivi.  I will have those intersection post as well as maps of the area available at the Vivi Base on Saturday.  The parks will also need volunteers handing out Vivi's info.

It is VERY important to continue to GET THE WORD OUT about Vivi.  She is still out there somewhere.

Please volunteers, make sure to take care of yourselves as well and do not over do it.  We all had and still have a life before Vivi somewhat took over.  So many of you have been going non stop since the beginning, sometimes it helps to take a step back, take a deep breath and take a break.  This helps to clear the mind a bit and keep you healthy.

It's amazing the dedication you volunteers have, trying to rescue this beautiful little girl, whether you are able to contribute 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days.  I know I can speak for Jil, Rick, Paul, Bo and Honi when I tell you anything and everything you all have done and are doing is so very appreciated.  I cannot say enough good things about the "Team Vivi Volunteers"!!!!!!   THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
 
Keep the faith.  We will find her or should I say, she will find us.

Bonnie>>

Search coordinator Honi Reisman writes:

<<In an effort to reach as many people in as many places as we can, we would like to know if you are available to volunteer some time during the week to go to the Long Island Railroad and subway platforms in Flushing, Bayside, Auburndale, Whitestone and College Point to hand out cards with Vivi's info. This would only be a two-hour assignment, from approximately 6:30 to 8:30 a.m.

Please let me know. We will be out tomorrow morning, not sure which station yet but you can reach me at 516-776-0923.

Thanks,

Honi.>>

Vivi's breeder responds:

<<CORRECTION

    It has been brought to my attention that some people have given Jil’s fiancé Rick a hard time because he saw some “stray” dogs when searching the area for Vivi in a helicopter. These people apparently felt that Rick should have tried to deal with those dogs instead of looking for Vivi.

    If I inadvertently caused this I apologize. What Rick sa