Jared and Kristi Owens had plans for the first weekend of October, excited to be headed to Las Vegas for a fun little mini-vacation now that the hot Texas summer was over. They packed their bags and headed for the Lubbock airport, unaware that something was wrong. Carting their luggage into the terminal, they took their place in line for check-in at the Southwest Airlines desk. When they reached the counter, Jared put each bag on the scale, one at a time. His own suitcase was – inconveniently – over the baggage weight limit by a bit over five pounds.
Thinking quickly, Jared realized the problem could be rectified by moving a few items from the overweight bag to an underweight bag. Opening his suitcase, his eyes fell on the pair of dress cowboy boots he’d packed. Those weigh more than five pounds, he thought. He’d move those. Before he could, however, a stowaway popped his little head out of the top of one of the Texan’s boots… “Icky!” (That was the dog’s name, Icky.) The Chihuahua was not supposed to be there. Speaking later with NBC affiliate KCBD-11, Mr. Owens said that, “She’s the burrower. That’s what she does. She burrows in clothes. She burrows in, obviously, suitcases now.” Apparently, burrowing is an instinctive behavior in that breed.
Suddenly, Jared and Kristi had a problem. They needed to board their plane, but couldn’t take Icky onboard with them. Neither could they leave him behind, abandoned at the airport. There was no time to return the little doggo home, or even to arrange to have someone take him to their home for them. What to do? Not a problem, said Cathy Cook, the Southwest employee weighing and checking passenger baggage. Cathy volunteered on the spot to take care of Icky for a couple of days until the Owens returned home. Problem solved! Couple grateful! Chihuahua disappointed!
When asked how he felt missing out on his free trip to Vegas over a mere five pounds, Icky quoted Maxwell Smart, CONTROL’s agent 86 of television’s Get Smart; “Missed it by THAT much”.
Question Of The Night: What funny or endearing things has your pet done?
