CAMARILLO : Dog That Tied Up Freeway Faces Death

A 20-pound dog that played chicken with cars on the Ventura Freeway last week is on Death Row today.

The little black dog, described as a cockapoo, has been in a shelter since bottling up traffic for about 40 minutes Aug. 31 on the Ventura Freeway in Oxnard.

But once an animal has been unclaimed for five working days--today in this case--the animal can be put to sleep, said Kathy Jenks, director of the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department.

Up to nine law enforcement officers joined in the nearly two-mile chase last week that ended when an animal control officer nabbed the dog from under a stopped truck.

Jenks, at the time, was stunned. “He’s the luckiest dog alive,” she had said. “There’s no reason the dog should still be alive.”

Now the agency that has been giving him free room and board in Camarillo is prepared to put the dog to sleep--if no one adopts him.

“He’s not a bad-looking dog,” Jenks said hopefully.

But no one has claimed him yet, and time is running out.

Space at the Camarillo shelter is the key, Jenks said, as is the animal’s “adoptability”--that is, the more attractive, the better behaved, the better.

“We’re pretty full,” said Jenks, whose shelter houses about 200 dogs, cats and other animals.

“But as long as we don’t get a lot of animals (today), then he may have a chance for a couple more adoption days.”

Typically, she said, the agency euthanizes “probably 40 to 50” animals a day, down from as many as 100 a day earlier in the summer.

Anyone interested in adopting the dog should call the shelter at 388-4341 for more information.