Dog survives 110-mile trip under car’s hood
Suzie may have survived an 11-mile ride in the grill of a Toyota Camry from Taunton to East Providence, but that Rhode Island tale now has some competition.
In California, a 25-pound dog stowed away in the engine compartment of a Chevy Silverado, surviving a 110-mile journey from Chino to San Clemente.
“The dog is doing very well, not affected by the long ride down there,” Kim Cholodenko, general manager at the San Clemente-Dana Point Animal Shelter, told KTLA-TV.
Jaime Magaña, a 52-year-old building-restoration supervisor from Chino, said he had no idea a dog was along for the ride Monday when he took the company vehicle to San Clemente.
When he stopped there for lunch and turned off the ignition, he could still feel movement in the truck. He also saw fur protruding above the left front tire.
He opened the hood to find a dog.
“When I opened the hood he looked at me like thank you very much,” Magaña said. “I didn’t want to pull him out. … maybe something was broken.”
Magaña slowly removed the dog from the engine compartment, gave him some water and dialed 911.
Local officials are nicknaming the dog “Chevy” and are trying to locate an owner.
Posted by jwoestendiek October 4th, 2012 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: 110 miles, animal shelter, animals, california, chevy, chino, compartment, dana point, dog, dogs, engine, found, pets, pickup, ride, san clemente, silverado, survived, truck
Comment from Anne’n'Spencer
Time October 4, 2012 at 7:27 pm
I have a terrible memory from 30-plus years ago of settling my children in their backseat car seats in my old Buick, preparing to get into the driver’s seat, and hearing a faint but distinctive “Mew!” coming from somewhere under the hood. It was a tiny kitten, barely old enough to leave its mother, wedged up behind the grille. I believe if I’d turned on the engine, it would have been destroyed by the fan. I got kids and kitten into the house and called a friend. I was concerned about calling Animal Control because I thought the kitten might be a candidate for euthanasia. Keeping it (I didn’t know if it was male or female) was out of the question because there are cat allergies in the family.
My friend came and got it, gave him-or-her a good bath, and found a home among her many cat-loving friends. As far as I know, the cat had a long and contented life. We never figured how it got up into the engine compartment.
I still feel my teeth on edge and cringe when I think what would have happened if I had just turned the car on. It’s amazing that these dogs have gotten through this without injury.