For about 24 hours, it seemed an entire country was out looking for a dog named Cooper.
He was only supposed to be in the air for an hour or so — on a short flight from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland in eastern Canada.
But a funny — and for a while, downright frightening — thing happened on Cooper’s journey to stay with other family members while his owners attended a wedding.
On Wednesday, as The Canadian Press reports, the airline put him on the wrong plane. And for hours, his fate was, literally, up in the air.
Cooper put on wrong @WestJet flight, sent to #YHM; staff let him out and he is now missing. If spotted please call 709 457 7308 #HamOnt pic.twitter.com/LA5FVk2TDG
— Steph (@ItsStephPhD) April 20, 2017
It turned out, instead of landing in Newfoundland, Cooper’s flight took him to Hamilton, Ontario — nearly halfway across the country.
But his misadventure didn’t end there. Airport workers took the Labradoodle outside for a pee break and he slipped his collar.
Then things took an even more terrifying turn. The area where Cooper disappeared was drenched in torrential rain.
One of his owners, Terri Pittman, flew to Hamilton to help in the frantic search.
Brief sightings of the dog — mostly seen running scared across yards and parking lots — were reported on social media.
“Thousands of people helped me,” Pittman told CBC News. “With all the [social media] shares, and people searching and calling. Random people messaged me asking how they can help, and they’re out around at three, four in the morning, looking around.”
Staff members at WestJet, the airline that lost Cooper, also took part in the massive ground search.
“We are doing everything possible to find and return Cooper including engaging our staff in ground search, putting up posters, offering up the Hamilton airport security phone line for anyone with sightings of the dog to call, and reaching out to local media for the public’s help,” WestJet spokesperson Lauren Stewart told the Hamilton Spectator. “We will continue to work with the owner during this difficult time.”
And then, after more than 24 hours of frantic searching, Cooper was found. He was huddled behind some crates in a fenced in area near the airport.
But he didn’t stay cowering there for long — not when when he caught sight of his owners who rushed to the scene.
Although wet, hungry and shaken, Cooper curled up in his owners’ arms.
“It’s the most overwhelming feeling of happiness,” Chelsea Simon, one of the dog’s owners told Global News.
Cooper is expected to fully recover from his accidental odyssey — but we won’t blame him if he insists on driving back home.
Toledo, United States.
