Vivi, The Showdog Becomes Urban Legend

Remember months ago when a showdog escaped from its crate at JFK? Perhaps it didn't make big news in the rest of the country, and, in the overall scheme of things around the world, but here in New York, Vivi has become urban legend. After missing for so many months (since February), offering thousands in reward money and employing specialists to track her down, Vivi's whereabouts are still unknown to this day. Vivi has been seen all over Queens, leaving a trail in a park located just north of JFK airport, as well as parks in other parts of Queens (Kissena Park, the Queens Botanical Garden, Flushing Meadows/Corona Park and Alley Park in Bayside). She's been sighted as recently as just two weeks ago back in the area where she was first lost near JFK. The irony in all the attention paid to one dog is that there are literally thousands of lost and stray dogs all over the country, who barely get any attention at all. Her owners wish that those other dogs could get as much attention as their one lost dog, but, as one writer put it, "Vivi is the reverse Cinderella. Her showdog status satisfies our fascination with the elite and beautiful, while her misfortune elicits emotions - pity and concern - that democratize her"(Denise Flaim, writer). As groups of searchers continue in their efforts to find her, Vivi has now become somewhat of an urban legend. Hope still exists that she will be found, because thinking anything else is just too painful.