As rewarding as it can be, traveling with your dog can also be stressful for your four-legged friend, who must encounter such unfamiliar challenges as air transport. But, as the winner of VPI Hambone Award’s “Most Unusual September Claim” (a monthly honor bestowed upon a dog, cat, or exotic animal by Veterinary Pet Insurance) might now attest, the obstacles don’t stop there.

Kei, a seven-year-old Shiba Inu from Illinois, was traveling in Toronto with his fellow Shiba pal, Midori, and their human friend Scott Thisdale when one of his hind legs got painfully caught in an escalator, causing extensive damage to his paw. Says Thisdale:

We took the escalator to the subway platform and when we got to the top, Keis paw got caught on the grates, said Scott. He didnt yelp or cry, even though it mustve been painful. I didnt realize anything had happened until he started licking his nails. Thats when I noticed he was bleeding, so I picked him up and rushed him to the closest animal hospital.

A six-hour visit to a local vet put Kei on the path to recovery, and Thisdale was able to rely on his VPI insurance to cover any licensed vet visit in the world. If that’s not a strong reason to consider taking up a pet insurance policy, we don’t know what is.

Among Kei’s September competitors for mishap of the month: A Newfoundland who squared off with a moose, a Labrador who fought with a water spigot, and a Papillon with a grooming nightmare that we’ll kindly spare you.