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| www.DogsInTheNews.com |
Volume II - Issue 1 |
July 2001 |
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Barcelona Dog Shuts Down Metro for 3 Hours |
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Thursday, July 5, 2001 - SPAIN |
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BARCELONA — A frightened female German Shepherd led authorities on a not-so-merry chase last night through the subterranean tunnels of Barcelona's underground metro system. La Vanguardia newspaper reports that it took five fire fighters, several municipal police officers, a Barcelona Municipal Kennel dog-catcher and a dozen TV and newspaper journalists about three hours to chase the commuting canine through lines 1 and 2 of the city's subway, during which hundreds of metro passengers were either amused or irritated by the announcement of "a collection of a dog from the rails" and the subsequent delay in the Spanish summer heat. "Some people took it in stride, thinking it was funny," said Metro spokesperson Mr. Gustavo Lamadrid. "Others were less amused, say, people who were in a hurry." Joining the list of the "less amused" were the Metro authorities who tallied the city's expense at more than two million pesetas (about $11,000 USD; £8,000) for the three hours of downtime at 6pm, the height of evening rush hour. |
Investigations are still underway, but according to one official, the dog had been accompanied by her owners who, upon being told that unleashed dogs are not permitted in the metro, allegedly kicked the dog to make her leave. Instead, the confused Shepherd ran into the underground, down a staircase and onto the tracks. The owners reportedly then fled without offering assistance or waiting to learn of the dog's fate. During the ordeal it is believed that the dog was frightened further and the chaos was exacerbated by a throng of camera-flashing photographers and TV news crews on the platform. (Never mind the dog; who let them in, anyway?) §§§
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| DogsInTheNews.com is brought to you by Canine Nation |
The yet-unidentified dog finally
collapsed of exhaustion, was scooped up in a dog net and taken to the
city pound without further incident.
