A French Bulldog puppy traveling with its owner on a United Airlines flight from New York recently lost its life when a flight attendant insisted the poor thing must stay in the overhead bins. When the plane landed, the young mother and her children found their little puppy lifeless and without breath.
What happened next will likely haunt everyone involved for years to come.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Maggie Gremminger was on the flight, and she tweeted about witnessing the incident. She told People that the owner of the puppy, who remains unnamed, initially placed the dog under her seat in its carrier, just like instructed.
It didn’t take long, however, for a flight attendant to come around and insist that the carrier was sticking out in the aisle too far, according to Gremminger. The flight attendant insisted that the woman move the dog into the overhead compartments.
“After the flight attendant asked her to move it above, the woman adamantly refused, communicating that her dog was in the bag,” said Gremminger. “There was some back and forth before finally, the flight attendant convinced her to move the carrier to the bin above.”
Gremminger told reporters that she could hear the poor puppy barking for about the first half hour of the flight. The little thing got quiet after that, though no one on the flight realized the horrible reason the little guy went silent for quite some time.
THERE WAS NO SOUND
Another passenger was right there when the mother opened the kennel and found her lifeless dog. The passenger did what she could to help the young family through this horrible moment.
“There was no sound as we landed and opened the kennel,” wrote passenger June Lara. “There was no movement as his family called his name. I held her baby as the mother attempted to resuscitate their 10-month-old puppy.”
It’s utterly unimaginable. That poor woman, standing there with a terrified toddler, an infant, and a dead puppy while everyone is attempting to disembark from an airplane. I can’t even fathom what that must have been like for any of them.
I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of an @united flight attendant. My heart is broken. pic.twitter.com/mjXYAhxsAq
— MaggieGremminger (@MaggieGrem) March 13, 2018
A TRAGIC ACCIDENT
As far as the airline is concerned, a spokesman for United, Chris Hobart, said,
“This was a tragic accident that should ever have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin. We assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them. We are thoroughly investigating what occurred to prevent this from ever happening again.”
However, after all that flowery language and rhetoric, the airline refused to refund the woman’s tickets for her flight, including the $200 fee for carrying the dog.
According to airline policy,
“A pet traveling in cabin must be carried in an approved hard-sided or soft-sided kennel. The kennel must fit completely under the seat in front of the customer and remain there at all times.”
DON’T FLY UNITED
Out of all the airlines, United had the worst rate of pet deaths in 2016. While United isn’t alone in this sort of tragedy, they are by far the worst.
If you need to travel with your fur baby, make sure to do your homework.
The flight attendant responsible for the puppy’s death has been placed on leave until the airline conducts the investigation.
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