aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South
Saturday, April 15, 2006
But what about Vivi?
Evidently, the rescued cat in the wall in the Village struck a chord with New Yorkers. It became a most-emailed article pretty much from the moment it was posted:
The epic search for Molly, the black, 11-month old fraidy-cat stuck in the wall of a Greenwhich village food store for two weeks, ended in jubilation last night after rescue workers spotted her in a small opening and quickly yanked her away to safety.
Molly’s return came at 10:13 p.m., prompting a crowd of dozens of reporters, photographers and neighborhood residents who had gathered outside the shop, Myers of Keswick at 634 Hudson, to erupt in cheers. Rescue workers said they had traced Molly’s plaintive meows to an area near the ceiling of the shop, drilled a small hole, and spotted her crouched in a dark crawl space.
I’m more a dog person than a cat person - and a small dog person at that. We’ve got two Italian Greyhounds, Baci & Jake. We have been watching for news of the Whippet, Vivi, who got loose at JFK. Newsday’s Vivi-watch said last night:
The good news is that Vivi is sighted regularly by different people now, several of whom have gotten a good look at her. She is obviously in good condition — one person who saw her said she looked “well groomed” which is difficult to believe but still encouraging. Although still skittish she seems to be less afraid of people. A man fishing in a pond says she was sniffing around his car, then came up when he fed her a sandnwich and even let herself be petted. A few other dogs then arrived and scared her away. A few people are now putting out food for her, in the hope that she will keep returning to the same spot.
Whippets, a greyhound variation, are sight hounds. Last week the Cleveland Plain Dealer said:
If a dog is loose for three or four days, it does not approach, seek, or allow human help, [licensed private investigator Karin] Goin said.
“Herding breeds - German shepherd dogs and border collies - create a circuit of sorts,” Goin said. Sight hounds, such as the Afghan hound or the greyhound that hunts its prey by sight rather than by scent, often do not follow that pattern. Vivi, a 3-year-old whippet, has not been returning to places where she was seen previously, although she did appear to have settled on one neighborhood in Flushing, N.Y., for a period of time.
Sight hounds are typically found five miles away, where most other dogs are found within a mile, Goin said. [...]
Bo Bengston, Vivi’s breeder, warned that trying to catch a dog that has become feral will only spook it more. He believes if Vivi is sighted, the best approach to gain her confidence is to sit quietly and eat food that can be shared with her if she permits it.
ABC News in a story on Vivi said, “Whippets can run like the wind and turn feral, or wild, very quickly.” We’re hoping there’s a good outcome for Vivi.
RELATED: The Brits have feral robot dogs.
