Dog who raced through San Francisco Muni tunnels "safe and sound," reunited with owner
SAN FRANCISCO – A dog that had quite an adventure Monday night in San Francisco when it sped along the Muni tracks from West Portal to the Embarcadero has finally be safely located, according to San Francisco Animal Care and Control on Tuesday evening.
"The dog, Noah, is back safe and sound," said Deb Campbell from animal control. "Our Animal Control Officers were getting sightings reports called in and were able to direct Noah's owner to his location."
Animal control and others worked hours to try and corral the slippery pooch, who began his journey around 7 p.m. Monday and eventually emerged into the night to further elude capture. Noah managed to upset Monday's commute and bus shuttles had to be arranged to get riders where they needed to go as trains halted in his wake.
Campbell said her team and people from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency pulled out all the stops to try and get the reddish-tan lab mix while he ran amok.
"Some got on the train, some walked along the tracks and were in touch with operators via radio as they followed and tried to capture the dog," she said. "They used boards to try and block the dog, nets and slip leads to try and corner it."
But Noah was very skittish and wily and managed to avoid the officers. He continued down through the tunnels with the SFMTA and animal control officers following until reaching the Embarcadero station, where he and was still at large as of Tuesday afternoon.
That was until the dog catchers decided to use some doggie psychology. If the dog was smart enough to elude capture and hold up a busy urban commute, it was probably too smart to go willingly with animal control. Instead, Noah's owner was recruited.
"Since Noah wasn't happy with SFMTA or SFACC, the officers felt they should send his person straight to him," said Campbell.
No word on whether he is currently relaxing with a tasty butcher bone.
