November 2022 Employees of the Month: Airside agents find Rogue the dog, who lived up to her name

A woman was dropping off a friend at Miami International Airport last month when her dog jumped out of the car as soon as the car door opened to let her friend out. The dog, appropriately named Rogue, truly lived up to her name when she managed to run all the way through an airside security gate to MIA’s busy airfield and get to the ramp level of gate D1.

Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) Senior Ramp Agent Abraham Alvarez was the first person to be alerted about Rogue. He then notified MDAD Wildlife Control Officer Ricardo Montiel, who responded to gate D1 along with Ramp Agent Enzo Garrido and Airside Specialist Brian Burdick. Enzo and Brian were able to locate Rogue, put a leash on her, and move her into Ricardo’s Wildlife Control vehicle. Rogue had a tag with a phone number, so Abraham was able to quickly contact her owner and reunite Rogue with her while she was still on the departure level. The owner was overjoyed to be reunited with Rogue, especially since she had just experienced the devastation of Hurricane Ian in Cape Coral in late September.  

Because of their speedy efforts to rescue Rogue and safely return her to her owner, the team of Abraham, Ricardo, Enzo, and Brian were named MIA’s November 2022 Employees of the Month.