Frankie the Dog takes commuter train to London

Well, I'll be dog-gone! Frankie the Jack Russell leaves home and hops onto commuter train to London

"What we don’t understand is why Frankie chose rail. He’s never been on a train before"

 This is the moment a family dog escaped from his home and then hopped on to a commuter train to London - in the middle of the morning rush hour.

The image shows Jack Russell Frankie, six, darting through the legs of busy commuters before hopping onto a carriage at Gravesend Station, Kent.

 

The moment Frankie hops aboard Picture:SWNS

He carefull waits for all the other passengers to board the commuter service then launches himself from his hiding place on to the train.

Once on the train, he can then be seen scurrying up the aisle in search for a suitable seat before settling on one by a window.

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The adventurous pooch had made the 1.6 mile journey to the train station after sneaking out of his front door as his owners left for work last week. 

Back in the arms of his family Picture:SWN

He then enjoyed a staggering 30 minutes as a stowaway on the train before he was scooped up just minutes from King's Cross by train manager Richard Cheeseman.

Frankie was kept safe in the manager's office for the remainder of the journey and was looked after by an Underground employee.

He was eventually reunited with his desperate owner Jane Abbott, 47, after a member of the train staff rang the contact number on his collar and asked her to come and collect her pet - from King's Cross.

Jane had been frantically searching her home and neighbourhood in Gravesend, Kent, for hours before receiving the call.

Jane said: "I normally get greeted by Frankie when I get up, but not this morning.

"I looked all over the house and in the garden but there was no sign of him."

Jane and 22-year-old daughter Stephanie paid £59 to buy high-speed rush-hour tickets to go to London to retrieve their pet.

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Jane added: "I was distraught that he went for free.

"What we don’t understand is why Frankie chose rail. He’s never been on a train before."

A statement from Southeastern spokesman: "We’re pleased we were able to help reunite Frankie and his owners."

Frankie was excused from paying the £17.80 usually needed to buy a ticket for the service.

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Stray dog pick-ups down by 23%

The number of dogs being picked up as strays has fallen by more than a fifth since last year, according to a survey.

The Stray Dog Survey, conducted by GfK NOP on behalf of the charity Dogs Trust, said the total number of stray dogs in Scotland fell by 23% from 5,889 in 2011 to 4,524 in 2012.

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It was a greater fall than the UK average, which has seen a 6% drop over the last year to 118,932 and means, on average, that 12 dogs are picked up a day in Scotland.

Dogs Trust said the figures are "impressive".

Clarissa Baldwin, chief executive of the dog welfare charity, said: "This year's Stray Dog Survey represents encouraging news for Scotland's dogs with a significant decline in the numbers of dogs picked up as strays.

"Dogs Trust works closely with local authorities and runs extensive education, neutering and microchipping campaigns to help them to tackle the issue - this is clearly paying off.

"Local authorities should be congratulated for all of their hard work."

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Dogs Trust said around half of the dogs in its care were abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

The charity appealed to members of the public to consider giving an unwanted stray a "second chance".

Article from West Lothian Courier


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