Dog escapes crate, runs wild at Taoyuan Airport for 2 hours

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) A border collie escaped from its crate and ran off, after arriving at Taoyuan International Airport on Saturday, evading airport staff for nearly two hours until it was eventually caught and brought back to its owner, airport authorities said.

According to Taoyuan International Airport Corp., the dog arrived Saturday evening on a China Airlines flight from Sapporo, Japan, and was being unloaded by ground operations workers when the incident occurred.

As the travel crate was being removed from the plane on a belt loader, the dog excitedly pushed against the side, causing the crate to tip over onto the ground, and the door sprang open, according to Taoyuan International Airport Services Co., which handles ground operations.

The airport company said it was notified about the incident at 7:03 p.m. and immediately dispatched personnel and work vehicles to catch the dog, while closely monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of planes on the runways.

In videos posted on social media, the small black-and-white dog can be seen running away from airport staff outside the gate, while baggage tractors and a taxiing plane can be seen in the background.

The dog was eventually caught at 8:50 p.m. on a ring road near the southern perimeter of the airport, after ground staff and its owner used a GPS pet tracker to locate it, airport authorities said.

The airport company said it has asked airline crew members and airport ground staff to review their pet transport safety procedures and will discuss possible improvements at the airport's next safety management system (SMS) meeting.