Paris airport shuts runways in search for runaway dog

BOBIGNY, France - Two runways were closed at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport Tuesday as officials tried to capture a dog a week after it escaped from an aircraft, Air France and airport sources said.

Since the dog, a female, slipped out of a carrier cage last Tuesday during an unloading operation, there has been an intense search for the pet, owned by an Austrian tourist who came to France on Air France from Vienna. Sources did not reveal the breed of the dog authorities are searching for.

Airport police needed to deploy a search drone Tuesday, requiring the closures.

"The animal has been spotted and approached several times, but it has not been possible so far to capture it," Air France said.

The plan, added airport officials, is to get close enough to tranquilize the animal with a hypodermic needle.

They picked the off-peak early afternoon for the operation, thus avoiding any impact on scheduled flights.

Since the dog got away there have been several search parties launched, including at night and in the presence of the owner, whose hotel costs at Charles-de-Gaulle are being covered by Air France.

Posters have been put up to alert airport staff.

Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle, with its four runways, vies with Amsterdam's Schiphol for the top spot of the European Union's busiest airports. — Agence France-Presse