Bear, blue heeler

Dog missing from Portland Airport found miles away
November 12, 2008 16:41 PM

A couple from Alaska spent a long four days scouring Portland International Airport and nearby neighborhoods for their dog, Bear, after he got away from airline workers during a layover.

Lost dog found

After a stressful weekend without the dog she considers "like a child," Janelle Kosten and her husband Jason Doogan were reunited with him early Monday morning.

A concerned resident, who found Bear, first heard about the story Friday on television and knew a hunt was underway for the missing dog in the area.

Most pet owners would attest it's like a "worst nightmare" scenario.

Bear was being transported in the cargo-hold of a Horizon jet Thursday when a worker opened the kennel and he escaped.  Airline personnel reported Bear ran across the busy south terminals after his kennel was opened on the tarmac during a stop at PDX en route to Medford.

The airline told Kosten "he bolted and he's gone, sorry".

Without food and shelter he remained missing for days.  Janelle says she couldn't sleep or eat, either, and that all she could think about was her missing loved one.

"Thursday night on foot we spent like four or five hours looking for him and Friday we rented a car and that's all we've done," she said.

Janelle says she and Bear have been inseparable for nearly seven years.

Horizon Airlines personnel say the worker was probably acting in the dog's interest when it opened the kennel, although the action did violate company policy.

"Our flight got delayed and one of the workers decided to open the kennel for some odd reason, to let my dog go to the bathroom, I guess," Janelle said.  It was late at night, on an active tarmac, with planes taking off left and right.

Jason says Bear was last seen running toward the Colwood Golf Course.  They checked there Friday.  They also checked the nearby National Guard base and a local post office with no luck.

"I've had him since he was four and a half weeks old and he's six and a half years old now," Jason Doogan said.

The couple was beginning to lose hope after a weekend of fruitless searching.  They realized eventually they'd have to leave eventually.

Bear had made it all the way to Northeast Columbia Boulevard when he was spotted.  A resident who had seen missing reports over the weekend was headed for work when he saw a loose dog that matched the photos and descriptions. He called NBC affiliate KGW, reporting the dog's location, and soon Bear was on his way back to the Kostens.

Everyone was reunited early Monday morning.

Kosten and Doogan are having Bear checked out by a veterinarian to make sure he's all right and will spend the rest of their two-week vacation with him and family in Medford.

Source: http://m.wbir.com/news.jsp?key=67024&rc=lv
Printer-friendly version here

Other versions of the story at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/lost_and_found_bear_the_blue_h.html
http://www.kptv.com/news/17944236/detail.html?rss=ptl1&psp=news