Dog Removed From Gorilla Enclosure Reunited With Family

SAN DIEGO, CA — A dog that wandered into the gorilla enclosure at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park last Sunday has found his way home, the San Diego Humane Society said Monday.

The one-and-a-half-year-old male German Shepherd Meatball, whom authorities nicknamed “Mighty Joe Young,” was reclaimed by his owners Sunday after a hectic week, to put it mildly.

Meatball escaped Sunday, June 12, and jumped into the famous gorilla enclosure at around 4 p.m. The gorillas did not welcome the intrusion kindly. A now viral video shows one gorilla chasing Meatball through the enclosure. Park officials were able to tempt the gorilla away from the dog, while officers from the San Diego Humane Society retrieved Meatball.

"Zoo staff told us they believe the dog had wandered into the park on his own, and gotten all the way into the gorilla enclosure before he was noticed," Humane Society spokesperson Nina Thompson told Patch. "The dog appeared unharmed and walked with our Humane officers to their vehicle without any issues."

Miraculously, no dogs, gorillas or humans were harmed in the melée, Thompson said.
At the time, staff believed that Meatball was a stray, since he did not have a microchip. They nicknamed him “Mighty Joe Young” after the 1949 movie about a gorilla who becomes a Hollywood star.

Meatball spent the next few days in Escondido on a “stray hold,” the four days allotted for animals to be claimed. He was cleared medically, vaccinated and neutered by San Diego Humane Society veterinarians.

Eventually, Meatball’s family claimed him. They’ve now fit their yard with a trolley system so he can run and explore without being tempted to wander away to meet any more gorillas, an SDHS spokesperson told City News Service.

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