Airport officials had apparently refused entry to the dog, which had been was accompanied by its owner, claiming it was oversized and not suited to travel in the cabin of an aircraft, said Anna Valvi, the coordinator of the Rafina animal shelter where the dog is currently living.

The owner, who apparently did not speak Greek or English, simply left the dog at the airport, saying that a friend would come and pick it up the next day. However, when the friend arrived to collect the unfortunate animal, airport authorities said they had no knowledge of the whereabouts of the dog.

Somehow — no one is saying exactly how — the dog had mysteriously disappeared and was only found days later, wandering on side roads near the airport by a taxi driver. She was initially transported to the Koropi animal shelter from which she also, inexplicably, was somehow lost.