Port Authority officers go on paw patrol, capture 7-month-old dog that went on a trek from Brooklyn to New Jersey
NEW YORK -- A missing dog from Brooklyn was safe Monday after he was discovered all the way in New Jersey.
Rescuers said the puppy, known as Bailey, caused quite a stir after he was spotted in the Battery Tunnel, then crossing Lower Manhattan, before finally reaching Jersey City through the Holland Tunnel.
CBS2's Christina Fan spoke to the officer who found him.
The 7-month-old still had the energy to put up a fight after Port Authority officers captured him at the end of a 10-day multi-state adventure.
Andrew Vignapiano, who led the charge, told Fan he's never had to talk a puppy of a ledge during his five years with ESU.
But then again, there's a lot to the pup's story that's unbelievable.
"We're talking with the officers that originally made contact and they're saying this dog is from New York. I'm going, from New York? How is that possible?" Vignapiano said.
It turns out Bailey is from Red Hook, Brooklyn, and had been missing since April 29. The same day he broke out of his home, the Shepard-Akita mix tried swimming across the East River.
A few days later, drivers found him galloping through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel towards Manhattan.
Officers finally caught up to him when he was spotted in the North Tube of the Holland Tunnel running towards Jersey City.
"It opens up to about six-seven lanes of very late people going to work. Everyone is in a rush. It's a dangerous area to walk a dog on a leash, let alone to have one running on its own. I'd say that dog is incredibly lucky," Vignapiano said.
Police eventually cornered Bailey on the second floor parking deck of a Home Depot and brought him to a point where they coaxed him to safety and brought him to a veterinarian.
Harriet Zucker, who has been trying to train Bailey, says the pup's survival is even more remarkable considering he had never left home.
"He's lucky and I just think it says something about the resilience and the instinctual cleverness because this dog had really never been out," Zucker said.
Zucker said the puppy was born naturally shy and fearful of humans, adding she has been trying to find him a foster home that can teach him to be more trusting.
"He's got to go to a place where there's no distractions, no big scary dogs, nothing scary, and he has to make the choice to come and be friends," Zucker said.
She said she's hopeful the fame this journey won him will lead him to a forever home.
The vet taking care of Bailey said he did suffer a cut to one of his feet as well as abrasions to his face, but he should fully recover.
