Missing dog’s master stays back for pet

PUNE: Vishal Verma’s affection for his “missing” pet dog, Shangul, prompted him to postpone his plan to permanently shift to his hometown Delhi.

He was about to bid adieu to the city permanently on Monday evening in an Air India flight. But Shangul escaped from the cage while he was being taken towards the aircraft at

Lohegaon

airport.

Vishal has decided to stay on till his pet dog is found. His luggage has reached his hometown, though.

All attempts until now to trace Shangul have gone in vain. Vishal told TOI that he had been going to different places around the airport to trace his pet. He is also distributing pamphlets to find it.

Vishal said, “I saw the whole thing happen on Monday evening. I was waiting near the gate No. 2 for boarding the aircraft when I saw my dog running away from the cage. I shouted and requested the airline’s officials as well as other authorities to open the gate. It took me almost 15 minutes to get past the gate as some procedures were involved. By then, my dog was gone. I saw him for a few seconds after some time, but it disappeared again.”

According to the procedure, the cage in which a pet is transported in an aircraft is scanned. Then the animal is put in it and locked.

Vishal suspected that the airline officials did not lock the cage properly. “It seems the airline officials locked its two sides instead of all the four. I had bought the cage on Sunday from Aundh. I also strongly suspect that the airline officials might have dropped the cage,” Vishal, who has been staying in Pune for around 4 years, said on Wednesday.

“Shangul is just three years old and is a German Spitz. I had bought it around two years ago. The airline should have ensured that the trolley in which Shangul was being carried was covered,” he said, adding that his pet could have managed to open up the unlocked section of the cage and get out.

Vishal, who has been staying with a friend at Bavdhan, said, “I have received a lot of cooperation from the CISF and airport authorities. They have been updating me about any development.”