UPDATE: Singing Dog Does the Jailhouse Rock

April 20, 2001 Lafayette, Indiana, USA

"I coulda had class.  I coulda been a contenda...", he muttered as they dragged him away.

Kodi the New Guinea Singing Dog is back home at the Columbian Park Zoo today.  Evidently, the zoo's hotline had been ringing off the hook ever since it went public that the rare dog was on the loose (refer to yesterday's article:"Kodi the Singing Dog Escapes").

Lafayette residents began phoning in reports from all over the area, sometimes spotting him running full-speed, sometimes finding him calmly playing with the neighborhood dogs.

Kodi's pursuers caught up with him around 10:00 in the morning, after workers at the Wastewater Management Wabash Avenue found him loitering about the parking lot.  Plant supervisor Stan Balser went up to Kodi and began petting him, while zookeepers arrived.

But the minute he saw those familiar Columbian Zoo uniforms, the dog dashed off and squeezed through a hole in the surrounding fence, said one eyewitness. 

The next batch of calls came from motorists who had spotted him running up US 231.

Efforts then converged on McCutcheon High School where zookeepers chased Kodi under a zoo truck.  Craftily dodging all of their swats, he continued to avoid being captured.

Finally a Crawfordsville man named Paul Frawner appeared on the scene.  Crouching down to Kodi's level, he slowly offered his hand to the animal.

After sniffing his hand, the shy dog decided to trust Mr. Frawner and allow the man to pet him.  As soon as he was able, Mr. Frawner grabbed a hold of Kodi and pulled him out from under the truck.

"He's definitely our hero," zoo director Claudine Laufman said, referring to Mr. Frawner.

Kodi was checked out by a veterinarian who reported that the dog is fine, albeit very tired and a bit dehydrated.

Now that his brief solo career has ended, he's once again back in his old cage, singing to his New Guinea Singing Dog friends (of which there are only 150 existing in captivity worldwide).

Reportedly, Scoop Senior Editor Wags obtained the following statement from Kodi's cellmate Buka:

"I don't really mind it when Kodi starts into 'I Fought the Law' every 10 minutes.  But would somebody please get that harmonica away from him?"

§§§

^Articles