UK: A dog outsmarted staff at Battersea Dogs' Home in London by breaking out of his kennel on a nightly basis to raid the kitchen.
The lurcher, called Red, would unbolt his door before releasing his favourite canine companions. Mystified staff at the animal shelter in south London would arrive in the morning to discover the dogs running amok through the centre. The reason for the break-outs only came to light after video surveillance was installed to catch the culprit. Featured yesterday morning on GMTV, the film shows Red escaping and then pushing back the bolts on the other dogs' kennels to free them.
Ms Becky Blackmore, from the shelter, said staff had been baffled. "We had come in to chaos in the morning. It happened probably about a dozen times. We would come in to lots of dogs out on their block. They had had lots of food, and lots of fun and games and caused loads of mess. We weren't too sure what was going on.
"There are lots of stories about Battersea being haunted so we wanted to make sure that there was an explanation for what was going on.
"It is amazing really because lurchers aren't particularly renowned for their intelligence. It is amazing that he has worked out how to get out of his own kennel but then also that he goes and lets all his friends out."
Red arrived at the home in June in an emaciated state which, staff believe, is the reason for his urge to seek out food. Red's kennel has been made more secure.