A Campbell River family can now mourn the loss of Larry the Italian greyhound, the dog they planned to adopt before he was lost by Air Canada at San Francisco airport on Oct. 7.
“We’re pretty upset but it’s closure,” said Duncan White. He and his wife Lynda planned to adopt Larry from Jutta Kulic, an American woman wanting to find good homes for dogs left by a friend who died from cancer.
Larry was waiting to board a plane to Victoria when an Air Canada employee let him out of his cage, and he bolted.
What happened next was unclear until Thursday night, when the Whites received confirmation that Larry was hit by a car on a nearby highway.
A veterinary hospital confirmed that a couple driving by stopped and took the injured dog to the hospital for treatment. They stayed as staff tried to save Larry, but the dog had to be euthanized.
White said he and his wife are heartbroken but comforted knowing the dog was not alone or suffering when he died.
It took nearly three weeks for the Whites to find out what happened to Larry. In that time, Air Canada was embroiled in a publicity mess after a spokesman suggested the airline ignore media requests for information about the missing dog.
