Dog Opens Latch, Frees Pet Wallaby in Oklahoma

A pet wallaby has been on the lam in Oklahoma for three days after its owner believes a dog may have hit the latch on a fence to set him free.

Roo, a year-old, four-foot-tall wallaby, escaped from his home in Blanchard on Wednesday near Highway 76, KOKH reported.

"It’s a chain link gate and I guess a dog must have hit the latch," Roo's owner Gil Gilbreath told the news station. "I have a dog there that likes to play with him through the fence."

Roo was captured on video footage taken by a neighbor, according to KOKH.

"I think he is in the tall grass," Gilbreath told the news station. "He likes it and he likes to hide in it. I think he's probably in there if he hasn’t moved on from this pasture somewhere."

The search for Roo has expanded to include a drone piloted by Blanchard police, KOKH reported.

"If we can at least get him out in the open and get people to fence him into a smaller area so we can throw the net over him," said Liesl Welu of Blanchard Animal Control.

Wallabies belong to the kangaroo family and mostly reside in Australia.

They are legal to own as pets in Blanchard as long as the owners have the correct documentation, according to KOKH

"They're pretty nice pets if you can get them gentled down," Gilbreath told the station.

"They're hard to catch, but I do think we'll get him."