Crafty Canine Manages Houdini-Like Escape From Vet's Office

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — After three late-night escape attempts from an Oregon veterinarian's office, a German shepherd named Jack finally made it.

The Medford Mail Tribune reports the crafty canine managed to pull open his kennel, trip the dead bolt on the clinic's back door and pull down the handle to get outside.

He set off three motion-detector alarms on the way and managed to rip open four bags of food.

The dog roamed seven miles from the vet's office, but only made it home when animal control officers took him to a shelter where he was reunited with his worried family.

A veterinarian calls the dog's recovery from flulike symptoms "impressive."

The Medford Mail Tribune has more details on what it calls the "canine Houdini":

Jack, suffering from a strange flu-like illness, was also exhibiting symptoms of pneumonia. Lethargic and declining to eat, Jack was hooked up to intravenous antibiotics. By Wednesday, he was perking up a little. But on Thursday morning, Billeci got the shocking call that Jack was missing.

"I went hysterical when I got the call," she said. "My concern was that he would lay down in a ditch and die."

Sierra said he and his staff were dumbfounded to find the big dog missing from his kennel that morning. They searched the clinic and found clear evidence that Jack's appetite was back. Four bags of food had been ripped open.

Sierra said he shut down the hospital and joined the full-scale search.

"Jack is a wonderful dog," Sierra said. "But he was so sick he could barely walk. Then, 72 hours later, he's on the lam."

The clinic's security company said police had been notified after motion detector alarms had been tripped at 10:30 p.m., 1:30 a.m. and again at 4:45 a.m., Billeci said.