A free-spirited Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy briefly brought New York City's LaGuardia Airport to a standstill yesterday after escaping from her crate as it was being loaded onto a plane. Several flights were delayed as 14-month-old Byrdie ran loose on the runway and tarmac area before being corralled with the help of no fewer than 11 airport vehicles. She saw her owner before being returned to her crate—with the door securely fastened—and was loaded back onto the Delta flight to Memphis.
"They took me physically outside the plane and said, 'Ma'am, your dog got loose and we're trying to catch her,'" Byrdie's owner—who says the dog has flown several times before without a problem—tells the Commercial Appeal. "The staff at LaGuardia and Delta were great. They kind of had detained her; they took me out there and she came right to me." The pilot, she says, spoke to her before she picked up Byrdie at baggage claim. "He just wanted me to know that he went down and personally checked on Byrdie the second that we landed, which I thought was really nice," she says. "I think she just wanted a little exercise." (More LaGuardia Airport stories.)
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