Owner reclaims lost dog Enzo who dashed through morning traffic on I-95 in Philadelphia

By6abc Digital Staff, Katie Katro, and Briana Smith WPVI logo
Saturday, August 5, 2023
Owner reclaims lost dog Enzo who dashed through morning traffic on I-95 in Philadelphia
A dog running along Interstate 95 brought traffic to a standstill Friday morning in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A dog running along Interstate 95 brought traffic to a standstill Friday morning in Philadelphia.

The dog, who is named Enzo, was first spotted at about 7:20 a.m. on the southbound lanes near Allegheny Avenue.

A dog running along Interstate 95 brought traffic to a standstill Friday morning in Philadelphia.

Enzo went running along I-95 dodging traffic, and at one point, even crossed the temporary lanes that were constructed after the highway collapsed in June.

During the mile-long chase, Enzo was hit by a large truck. He was knocked over but kept running, apparently uninjured by the collision.

The dog was finally cornered by Pennsylvania State Police off the side of the highway.

Police took him to Town and Country Pet Care Center in Langhorne, Bucks County to be checked out.

General Manager Angela Carpino said Enzo received the care he needed, including an examination by a vet.

"He definitely went through a little bit of trauma. You can definitely tell by his body language, the heavy panting, he's definitely still nervous," Carpino said.

Enzo's owner, Leisa Zurbaran, said he managed to escape her yard while she was getting ready for work.

"All I heard was 'bang!' No landing, no barking, no nothing. I looked back and he was running," she told Action News.

Zurbaran's beloved pet didn't just jump the fence to her front yard but instead ended up taking a long journey to I-95.

"It was traumatizing, I was stressed the whole day," she said.

Zurbaran said she was desperately trying to locate Enzo by contacting animal care and control teams.

Then she sought answers on Facebook, where she finally got the message she was looking for.

"She showed me the news, I was like, 'I think that's my dog,'" Zurbaran recalled. "I went into the link, there were so many videos of him and I'm like, 'Oh yeah that's my dog.'"

She said once she retrieved Enzo it was a relief to get him home, even though he was shaken up and a bit tired.

"I'm pretty sure he's going to sleep like a baby tonight," she said.

Zurbaran said Enzo is a shy dog, so she's trying to get him to interact with humans more.

She also booked an appointment to get him microchipped and get a GPS tracker.