April 11, 2022, 05:23 PM
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A pet dog who had gone missing after escaping from her crate while being transported onboard a Singapore Airlines plane at Changi Airport has been found after nine days.
Her owner, Peixuan Sng, shared a public plea on Facebook on Apr. 2, to seek information about the whereabouts of Oreo, her Singapore Special dog.
Nine days and 842 search group members
Sng announced her reunion with Oreo on Apr. 10 on Facebook and Instagram.
Original post by Peixuan Sng on Facebook.
"One of the most traumatising experiences"
Sng went on 987FM's The Shock Circuit with Sonia Chew & Joakim Gomez at on Apr. 11 to share more about her experience of finding Oreo.
Sng, who is Chew's friend, revealed that her dogs, Oreo and Toffee, were checked baggage for her SQ38 flight that was heading for Los Angeles International Airport in California, US.
"Upon checking them in, when they were being pushed to the aircraft, Oreo actually escaped her crate, jumped off the baggage trolley, and started her entire nine-day adventure within the airport premises."
Sng was initially assured that both her dogs were aboard the aeroplane and she proceeded to board. However, as the plane was being taxied to the runway, it was ordered to turn back to the boarding gate due to a baggage discrepancy.
"After five to 10 minutes, two SATS staff came on board to tell me Oreo was not on the plane, and I had to choose to either fly or get off the plane with Toffee to search for her," Sng previously told Mothership.
Search underway
Faced with the choice to proceed with the flight or not, she chose the latter and disembarked the plane with Toffee and begun the search for Oreo.
Describing it as "one of the most traumatising experiences in [her] life," the pet owner said she was only able to keep herself "sane and positive" due to the people around her.
During the first weekend, they were very certain that Oreo was still within the airport premises so she continued working with Changi Airport group and their wildlife team who "had been super helpful" in giving her information on the possible whereabouts of Oreo.
However, Sng said the possibility of Oreo escaping the airport premises increased as the days went by.
Search group and AirTag update
With the encouragement of her friends, she created a search group to rope in more people to help, especially since Sng lives in the West and is not familiar with the Changi area.
Sng shared that they were searching Changi Beach Park a lot in the past couple of days after a couple of sightings came up on Apr. 1.
"Strangers [and] volunteers showed up to start the search... Probably 20, 30 people combing the entire length of the beach for the next couple of days."
After they had put the posters up, Sng was prompted by one of the Telegram group members to check the location of Oreo's AirTag collar.
Initially exasperated by the umpteenth time she was reminded to check the AirTag location status, Sng revealed that the AirTag did not provide "any updates for the past nine days" and she assumed it was gone or broken.
Nonetheless, the concerned dog owner checked the AirTag location status anyway.
To her surprise, the location of Oreo's AirTag collar was recently updated on Apr. 10 at 6:47am since its last update on Apr. 1.
Image by Vera Tan on Oreo is Home & Safe! Telegram group.
The radius covered the area along Changi North Crescent and within the airport premises.
This meant that Oreo could be within or outside the airport premises.
Sng immediately rushed down to the scene with her friend.
However, the outcome was "disappointing" as the place was empty and nine hours had already passed since the AirTag update, which meant Oreo could have already moved elsewhere.
"Within minutes, ten [or] 15 people showed up," Sng said she gave her live location, adding that people started to line themselves along the fences where the last location update was recorded.
Finding Oreo
Experienced rescuers at the scene who were helping to look for Oreo suggested to Sng to shout for Oreo, which she did "a couple of times".
Sng was also kept pressing the Play Sound button on Find My app and the sound of Oreo's AirTag gradually became louder.
The volunteers who had lined up along the fence eventually spotted Oreo at the corner of the fence.
Photo via @peixydonkey on Instagram.
The moment her dog laid eyes on Sng, she did not leave the fence, Sng said.
Sng told Oreo to sit and the dog obeyed while continuing to bark for the next 45 minutes.
Cisco officers came to help
Sng's friend, Avery, shared that Cisco officers arrived in trucks on the other side of the fence, which made Oreo "skittish".
Sng later clarified with Mothership the officers were from Changi Airport Group Wildlife team, not Cisco.
Avery who was also part of the search group was giving the officers tips to approach Oreo in the least intimidating manner such as squatting down to get on her level and calling out to Oreo.
Fortunately, the officers were "so compliant and so helpful" and if not for them, they would have to wait a lot longer for the contractor to pick Oreo up, he added.
Photo by Peixuan Sng on Oreo is Home & Safe! Telegram group.
Sng managed to celebrate her reunion with Oreo, surrounded by her family, friends, and volunteers who helped to look for Oreo for the past nine days.
Sng "broke down and cried" while hugging Oreo for the first time since the dog's escape.
Oreo lost around 3kg but was generally doing "well despite the conditions she has gone through", Sng said.
In addition to "a couple of cuts on her paws and around her body", Oreo has been "very, very hungry and very tired" for the past 12 hours.
Photo by Peixuan Sng on Oreo is Home & Safe! Telegram group.
Chew observed that Oreo was "knocked out" during the interview.
Sng added that she feels "very lucky and blessed that [Oreo] is overall okay".
As for travelling with her pets again, Sng said she will be working with the pet company that has been helping her with the export permits and taking one step at a time.
The pet owner's priority at the moment is to get Oreo back in good shape and health.
Photo by Peixuan Sng on Oreo is Home & Safe! Telegram group.
Now that Oreo has been found, the Telegram search group has been turned into one for others to look for their own missing pets.
Sng expressed her gratitude in the search group to everyone who has assisted in the search for Oreo.
Top images by @peixydonkey on Instagram.
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