Victor, lost an airport

Dog lost at Honolulu airport reunited with owner one month later
By Kristine Uyeno
Friday, April 26, 2013

Last week, KHON2 told you about a dog that had been missing at Honolulu International Airport for a month.

The dog has been found and reunited with its owner.

It took a lot of help from volunteers to help find Victor the dog. And it also took the love of his owners, who never gave up.

A month ago, the Horner family was about to board a plane to California when they learned one of their dogs, Victor, got loose from his carrier.

“Probably one of the worst days of my life was the day we had to fly out and looking out the window and knowing that my baby is out there still,” said Laci Horner, owner.

Horner contacted a lot of people, including Erica Montague. She had watched Victor several times before, through her “Love Them and Leave Them” pet sitting service.



“I felt that if I didn’t step up for this dog, he wasn’t going to be found,” Montague said.

The Horners sent her their clothes and some of Victor’s toys, hoping familiar items would help the search. Montague spent nearly a week at the airport. With the help of K9 Kokua, they set up a den for Victor.

“Just back behind a bulge of land and between some trees. It was well-shaded and everything,” said Jae Bonarek with K9 Kokua.

Their plan to lure Victor to a specific area of the airport worked.

“We knew because the food being gone, the new paw prints that were coming through, and once we able to do that, then he started to trust the area,” Montague said.

Horner hopped on a plane back to Hawaii. On Wednesday, she went to the airport near the end of the runway where he was spotted. After an hour, Victor came around.

“At that point I started squeaking his ball and trying to act like we were in the park, like nothing had been wrong. And he started coming up to me and I looked him in the eye and I said, ‘Get your ball, let’s go’ and he came right up to me. And once he knew it was me, he started crying and crying,” Horner said.

Victor has lost 15 pounds. But medically, he’s doing well. He has reminded the Horners about the strong bond between pets and their owners. And through this, they’ve also learned an important life lesson.

“It has completely, completely restored our faith in humanity,” Horner said.

Victor will rest in Hawaii for another week before heading to California.

Horner credits all the volunteers, including K9 Kokua.

Source: http://www.khon2.com/2013/04/26/dog-lost-at-honolulu-airport-reunited-with-owner-one-month-later/