Thursday, January 23, 1997
Section: LOCAL
Page: 03
by Marianne Costantinou and Gloria Campisi,
Daily News Staff Writers
Brad, a British champion dog, has eluded a search party for nearly two days after he slipped out of his collar at Philadelphia International Airport and sped out to the unknown wilds of Southwest Philly.
Despite a hunt led by a search dogs and a dozen folks on foot, Brad has not shown up anywhere - not along the area's highways and roads (or dog forbid, splatted across one), not in the craggy underbrush flowered with broken glass and trash that the nearby industrial parks call landscaping, not in the swampy marshland of the too-natural sanctuary known as the Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum where coyotees and wild dogs have been known to hang out among the picturesque egrets.
One thing is for sure.
Brad's escapade has probably not been a romp in the park.
Or as another canine traveler was once told: Brad, this ain't Kansas.
This would be just another sad, lost dog story, but Brad is no ordinary dog.
For one thing, the 2-year-old hound is a whippet, an exotic breed that looks like a miniature Greyhound with a spot across the middle. And, for another thing, Brad's a champion, twice winning best of show at fancy dog contests in England.
And then there's how much he means to his owner: $15,000.
At least that's what Marta Gropper of Schwenksville, Montgomery County, says she paid for Brad.
Or rather, what she paid for Ch. (champion) Dunaruna Savannah Shadow.
And he's not insured, she says.
Gropper, who owns a kennel called Wild Card Whippets, bought Brad from a breeder in England.
Brad traveled across the Atlantic in a crate in the cargo hold of a British Airways plane and arrived Tuesday afternoon.
Gropper and her future brother-in-law, Don Pauley, picked him up at Cargo City about 4 p.m.
They put a red nylon choke collar around his long, thin neck, fastened a leash, and walked him around a bit to let him stretch after his long trip.
Then Pauley opened the side door of his 1987 Chevy van.
Maybe it was the sight of the crate, who knows, but Brad just freaked, he said.
Brad slipped out of his collar and raced off.
Before Pauley could say, ``Oh my God!'' and Gropper could cry ``My dog!'' Brad had cut across the parking lot and slipped through a hole in the chain link fence.
There was no catching him. Whippets can travel at 35.5 miles per hour, making them the fastest domesticated animals in the world for their size.
``There probably isn't anything except a greyhound on four legs that would catch it,'' says Marcia Wirth, of Marlton, N.J., of the Eastern Whippet Association. ``It's amazing how much ground the little buggers can cover.''
Since Brad's escape, Pauley and about a dozen friends and dog lovers have searched for miles while Gropper waits by the phone, to field calls and relay sightings.
Animal shelters are on the lookout, too.
The airport and Philadelphia police also have been notified, said Gropper.
The search team has posted fliers with Brad's photo, and a number to call with information: 610-287-0814.
A $100 reward is posted.
Someone thinks they spotted Brad Tuesday night in the marshy lots of an industrial park around the Pepsi Co., at 78th Street near Holstein Avenue, about three miles from the cargo terminal as the whippet runs.
Grace, an English Pointer - also known as Ch. Gossamer's Gift of Grace, JH (junior hunter) - who is trained for tracking, picked up a strong scent of Brad there, says Debbie Schadt, of New Egypt, N.J., of Greater Philadelphia Search and Rescue.
That meant that Brad had either been in the area, or was still around, she says.
``Picture scent being like baby powder,'' she says. ``If you shake powder from the bottle,'' some scent may drift to the left, some to the right, but most stays in a concentrated area.
The search team had to give up last night about 6:30, when heavy rain, coupled with the marshy lot's broken glass and shards of metal, made the nighttime hunt perilous.
The team is expected to resume the hunt there today.
In the meantime, well-wishers are urged not to help, because traipsing through the area could disturb Brad's scent.
Meanwhile, Gropper, who had hopes of showing and breeding Brad, is very upset. A perfect puppy sired by Brad could fetch $5,000. And as a whippet-lover, she's worried for Brad's well-being.
Despite their speed and hunting instincts, Whippets are gentle dogs, more comfortable serving as bed warmers than tangling with Mother Nature and the wilds of civilization.
``The whippets, they go outside and run around like lunatics,'' says Gropper. ``But inside, they're couch potatoes.''
GREYHOUND-TYPE ``sighthounds'' that depend on sharp eyesight for hunting.
SPEEDY: Been clocked at 35.5 mph, faster than any other domestic animal of same size. In England, the whippet is called the poor man's racehorse.
PERSONALITY: Gentle, affectionate, clean and smart. They are especially suited to catching rats, but like to stay inside sleeping on furniture.
TIPS from the American Whippet Club: ``The most important thing you can do to care for your whippet is to protect him from being hit by a car or attacked by aggressive dogs. Whippets generally get the worst of any dog fight.''