Prize-Winning Pup Lost At Airport Found, Reunited With Owner

UPDATE: Pup Lost At Airport Jumps Into Owner's Arms After Hearing Voice

ATLANTA, GA -- A prize-winning show dog who went missing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, has been found.

Steven Boyd, an Atlanta wildlife biologist led the search for Gayle, the American Staffordshire terrier. Jeff Miller, Atlanta wildlife biologist, assisted in the search.

Airport officials showed photos of Gale reunited with her owner on Twitter after a three-day search to find her.

Airport personnel thanked the ops team for their efforts, who spotted her in an airfield thicket Tuesday morning and set up a bait trap.

ORIGINAL:

A prize-winning show dog is lost at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport since going missing Saturday.

A full-bred American Staffordshire terrier, Gale, was on her way home, back to Amsterdam, when her handlers were told she went missing, WSB-TV reported. She was traveling through Atlanta after a dog show in Kentucky.

Authorities and airport officials confirmed Tuesday they are still searching for the 22-month-old pooch.

The owners just want to get their dog back.

“When they tried to load my dog’s cage, it was empty and they couldn’t find her,” said Floris Van Essen, Gale's owner, to WSB-TV.

“She’s lost,” he said. “She doesn’t understand, she misses us and she’s all alone in a big airport. It’s a terrible ordeal.”

KLM, the airline that was supposed to transport Gale, told WSB that “a dog managed to break out of its cage as it was being loaded into the cargo of flight KL-622 from Atlanta to Amsterdam on March 23.”

Anyone who spots Gale is asked to alert her owners via Facebook.

WXIA reports that pilots had spotted the dog on the airport property; she is microchipped if she is caught.