Chinese crested dogs wearing pyjamas to protect their hairless bodies from the sun are taken for a walk in New York September 28, 2013. REUTERS/Zoran Milich (UNITED STATES - Tags: ANIMALS SOCIETY)

Larry, the two-year-old Italian greyhound that Air Canada lost after one of its staff set it loose at the San Francisco International Airport earlier in October, has died.

Jutta Kulic, its temporary American owner, said the dog was hit by a car several kilometres from the airport. Larry was bound for Campbell River on Oct 7. Ms Kulic had found him a new home as part of a promise made to Larry's former owner who died of cancer.

Ms Kulic as well as Larry's new owners waited and hoped to hear good news of his whereabouts but were devastated when they heard the reverse from a veterinary hospital in San Francisco.

Larry has been dead for three weeks. The veterinary hospital, however, failed to immediately realise it was the same dog going around in the news.

Read: Air Canada Ought to be in the Dog Pen; Loses Animal, Dishes Heartless Email

Ms Kulic said the San Francisco veterinary hospital called her earlier this week, informing her Larry was badly injured due to a punctured lung and fractured pelvis, among other injuries. A victim of hit-and-ran, the hospital said they had no choice but to euthanise Larry. A Good Samaritan found the dog on a highway the same day it disappeared and brought it to the clinic.

"Initially, one of their staff members was going through the records, saw this Good Samaritan record and said, 'Oh my goodness, this is the dog everybody is looking for,''' Ms Kulic was quoted by Vancouver Sun.

"We were all very, very hopeful that he was still alive, so I know that they (the couple in Campbell River) were extraordinarily saddened, and so am I.''

The Good Samaritan couple who found Larry was reported to have stayed and soothed the dog until the end.

"He was euthanized shortly after 5 p.m. and Air Canada didn't call me to say he was missing until 6:30 p.m. Larry was already dead before I even knew he was missing," Ms Kulic said.

"We're all very heartbroken about the outcome for Larry, but grateful that he wasn't alone and that he's not suffering," Ms Kulic said.