/ 21 February 2006

Psychics join search for award-winning whippet

With few physical clues to the whereabouts of an escaped show dog, the hunt for the award-winning whippet has entered the spiritual realm, according to a media report.

About 12 psychics are counseling searchers as they check the heated cargo buildings at John F Kennedy Airport where Vivi escaped from a travel cage, Newsday quoted the dog’s co-owner Paul Lepiane as saying on Tuesday.

”They are telling us that she is alive and they are telling us she is warm,” said Honi Reisman, a friend of the dog’s owners.

”They are saying she’s in a building — but there are hundreds of buildings.”

According to breeder Bo Bengtson, the animal bolted across the tarmac last week at 40kph as workers chased her on foot and in three cars. The three-year-old whippet, whose full name is Champion Bohem C’est La Vie, nosed into a marsh area and disappeared.

The dog’s escape came days after winning an award of merit at the Westminster Kennel Club show, America’s most prestigious dog show.

Lepiane said dog droppings consistent with the 13,6kg whippet were found on Monday behind an airport cargo building. He has announced a $5 000 reward for Vivi. – Sapa-AP