Clever Jack let nothing stand in his way when he made a break from his digs at the vet's (Photo: Mail Tribune, Julia Moore)An Oregon German shepherd is being heralded as a “canine Houdini” after he busted out of his kennel at a veterinary clinic, tripped a dead bolt on the clinic door, pushed the lever, and escaped to freedom.
Was it the hospital food that drove Jack to such extremes? A too-chatty roommate? Homesickness? He’s not talking. But his owners say Jack is smart, stubborn, and tall — a recipe for success when it comes to mischievous endeavors.
“He knows where his treats are,” owner Marsha Billeci told the Medford Mail Tribune. “He self-serves. He hooks his claw on the handle and pulls. He yanks super hard.” She said the technique has helped him open cupboard doors and other locked places.
Three days before his escape, Billeci had brought a very lethargic Jack to the vet’s. He wasn’t eating, and had flu-like symptoms, and signs of pneumonia. The vet hooked him up to intravenous antibiotics. In a couple of days, six-year-old Jack was starting to come around. The next morning, when staff arrived at work, they were shocked to see Jack’s kennel open, but no Jack.
The only signs of the wayward shepherd were four bags of dog food that had been torn open and plundered, and claw marks at the clinic’s locked door.
His shocked veterinarian, Shannon Sierra, shut down the clinic to join the full-out search.
“…he was so sick he could barely walk. Then, 72 hours later, he’s on the lam,” he told the Mail Tribune.
The hospital’s security company said Jack set off three motion detector alarms: One at 10:30 p.m., one at 1:30 a.m. and the last at 4:45 a.m.. Police responded at least twice, but the crafty canine outwitted everyone, scoring freedom after tripping the last alarm.
He headed in the general direction of home, but about seven miles away from the clinic, he tried to get into a woman’s house. After she and her son tried repeatedly to shoo away the persistent dog, they called animal control. A report had already been made, so Jack and Billeci were reunited in no time.
Jack is now continuing his impressive recuperation on his living room couch, taking his meds in the comfort of his own home. Sierra says the wily dog caused an immediate change in hospital setup: Every kennel now comes with its own lock.
If Jack ever ends up at the hospital again, Sierra might want to think about posting a 24-hour sentinel as well.
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