Panto Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 http://www.theoptimist.com.au/story/3386517/woman-reunited-with-border-collie-archie-after-he-escaped-qantas-and-went-on-run-for-two-days-via-ikea/?cs=4553 Rachel Spillane reunited with her border collie Archie. Photo: Supplied Woman reunited with border collie Archie after he escaped Qantas and went on run for two days (via Ikea) By John Thistleton <br class="break">Sept. 28, 2015, 11:40 a.m.<br class="break"> It was a wild two days, which included a visit to a horse stud, a golf course, and even the new Ikea store, but both Archie and owner Rachel are relieved it's over. Border collie Archie is back home to stay in Launceston, Tasmania, much to the relief of owner Rachel Spillane, rangers, police, farmers, Qantas, pet transporters, construction workers, golfers, airport staff, a vet and Canberra's dog community. After flying from Tasmania via Sydney Archie busted out of the Qantas freight terminal at Canberra Airport on Tuesday. On the run overnight and all of Wednesday he was caught in a barbed wire fence near the new Majura Parkway on Thursday morning. Archie had stopped traffic on Pialligo Avenue, visited the new IKEA store twice, was spotted on Fairbairn golf course, befriended a dog at "Springfield" horse stud and starred on "Dogs on the Run" Facebook page, run by a boutique dog-walking service. Owner Rachel Spillane had up to 14 border collies at Launceston until she separated from her husband and started to re-home them, including Archie, a two-year-old red sable collie given to her when he was 14-weeks-old and shaken with anxiety issues. Travelling with Halo, a female blue merle border collie, the dogs were bound for Yass to a couple who had agreed to re-home them. On Wednesday night Qantas and Jetpets Animal Transport flew Ms Spillane to Canberra to join the hunt for her terrified dog. "They realised it was going to be pretty much impossible to catch him without me," she said. "I guess they felt partially responsible, but I have no desire to lay blame on anyone or anything, I'm just so relieved everyone pulled together," Ms Spillane said. "The Canberra community were just amazing. We had offers left, right and centre helping." Dogs on the Run partner Carolyn Kidd's Facebook post received 300 likes, dozens of comments and shares. "Many people got involved, rangers, the Australian Federal Police and a bunch of dog lovers who heard about the drama through Canberra Lost Pet Database," Ms Kidd said. A Canberra Airport spokeswoman says Archie was outside of the airfield, nevertheless the airport's community Facebook site spread word of sightings. At "Springfield" horse stud on Majura Road Archie befriended Teddy, a chocolate border/labrador collie owned by Paul Keir's daughter. "He was too timid, too frightened to catch," Mr Keir said later. "We let him go, we didn't put any pressure on him," he said. Mr Keir spread the word throughout Majura valley farms. A couple travelling toward Canberra spotted Archie and rang Ms Spillane. "Jetpets franchise had three vehicles and three guys in hot pursuit, someone had eyes fixed on him. He kept running. Even when I called him he was too scared to stop," Ms Spillane said. "They were jumping out of cars and trying to get to him, jumping through barbed-wire fences, and all those sorts of things." About 10.45am on Thursday a barbed-wire fence ended Archie's escapade. "He ended up hanging upside down from his leg," Ms Spillane said. "When we tried to get him out of the fence he did not realise it was me and actually bit me. He literally put holes in my hand and all of a sudden his eyes changed and his tail started wagging and he realised it was me. He had a mouth full of blood because he had bitten his own tongue and he was absolutely petrified, beside himself." To hold him in her arms was overwhelming. Ms Spillane says she can never watch movies like Lassie Come Home … "they just make me cry too much". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Poor dog, what an ordeal. I hope where ever he ends up he settles and has a good life. Must be heartbreaking for her to have to let them all go too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 That photo says it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 it does... I want to hug him too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Poor baby! Hard to look at when he is a twin of Amber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Best Dogs! Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Poor little bugger. Glad everyone came together to catch him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 The story made me teary, imagine the relief!! The start of the story makes it sound like she is keeping him now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 Poor baby! Hard to look at when he is a twin of Amber. I felt there was some sort of familiarity there... now it makes sense. Yes - it does sound like she is keeping him now. Lucky boy. Poor woman, and what a situation to be in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 makes me want to cry every time I look at that photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Not really on topic but Canberra Lost Pet Database is a fantastic, Facebook based resource. It's run based on donations, they have admins online most of the time, they are in touch with RSPCA and DAS and are widely known as THE place in the Canberra region to list and look for lost pets. The admins really work hard to reunite pets and owners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Yes, it's excellent. Has nearly 17,000 members. There is a Geelong one that's quite good. Only has one admin/page owner but members are very cooperative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. New owner opened the crate door when he arrived in Canberra. He ran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. New owner opened the crate door when he arrived in Canberra. He ran. I dont know what the facilities are for collecting dogs but common sense tells me crates need to be opened in a secure room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. New owner opened the crate door when he arrived in Canberra. He ran. I dont know what the facilities are for collecting dogs but common sense tells me crates need to be opened in a secure room. Or car. New owner probably wanted to toilet the dog. Who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. New owner opened the crate door when he arrived in Canberra. He ran. I dont know what the facilities are for collecting dogs but common sense tells me crates need to be opened in a secure room. Or car. New owner probably wanted to toilet the dog. Who knows? Probably. I've never picked a dog up from the airport so I dont know what the set up is, but I hear quite a bit about dogs escaping from them. There was a really sad one years ago of a whippet in the US. I dont think they ever got her back. I think the crates need to be opened in a secure room to give the person picking the dog up a safe place to put a collar and lead on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. New owner opened the crate door when he arrived in Canberra. He ran. I dont know what the facilities are for collecting dogs but common sense tells me crates need to be opened in a secure room. Or car. New owner probably wanted to toilet the dog. Who knows? Probably. I've never picked a dog up from the airport so I dont know what the set up is, but I hear quite a bit about dogs escaping from them. There was a really sad one years ago of a whippet in the US. I dont think they ever got her back. I think the crates need to be opened in a secure room to give the person picking the dog up a safe place to put a collar and lead on. The dogs are brought out in crates. Employee snips off cable ties and hands off the crate. There are sliding doors so if the doors open and the dog is let out of a crate without collar and lead on, it could easily escape. Edited October 8, 2015 by Sheridan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 The dogs are brought out in crates. Employee snips off cable ties and hands off the crate. There are sliding doors so if the doors open and the dog is let out of a crate without collar and lead on, it could easily escape. Yep, I guessed it was something like that. I think they need a safer system, an uncrating room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph M Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 The dogs are brought out in crates. Employee snips off cable ties and hands off the crate. There are sliding doors so if the doors open and the dog is let out of a crate without collar and lead on, it could easily escape. Yep, I guessed it was something like that. I think they need a safer system, an uncrating room. Problem is in most states they're just sheds or warehouse type buildings. Hard to section off and even harder to imagine head offices paying for it. I absolutely agree though, the freight departments are very obviously not set up for live freight in a lot of cases and it's low on the list of priorities for freight companies as unfortunately it's not the majority of their work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keetamouse Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 I just wonder how he busted out at all ? Aren't they supposed to be in an airline approved secure cage with ties on ? Happy ending. Could have all ended very badly. New owner opened the crate door when he arrived in Canberra. He ran. I dont know what the facilities are for collecting dogs but common sense tells me crates need to be opened in a secure room. Or car. New owner probably wanted to toilet the dog. Who knows? Apparently a staff member opened the crate the new owner told them to be careful as the dog was very timid and would be frightened but alas the dog shot out the door (he had a collar on) the lady grabbed the collar but the dog was so scared she could not hang on to the dog. Qantas paid for the lady in Tassie to come to Canberra and take him home. I was told this by the staff at Qantas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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