The first incident occurred on a flight from Texas to New York, over a three hour plane ride. A family had brought their young bull dog with them on the flight, with the intention of keeping the dog near them throughout the flight which was allowed, as stated on the United Airlines Pet regulation guidelines. As long as the dog is on the certified pet list and the kennel they transport the pet in is small enough to fit under the seat. This young bull dog was on the list and the kennel was small enough to fit under the seat, however, flight attendant on flight 1284 demanded that they move their puppy into the overhead bin.
The family fought this, due to the idea that their precious puppy is not cargo rather a living, breathing bulldog. The flight attendant then assisted the family in putting the dog into the overhead bin. A little over three hours later when they went to get their puppy, it was deceased. United responded calling this incident a “tragic accident.” Well, no shit? If it was not for your flight attendant not knowing the regulations of their own job, this puppy would still be living.
Another ridiculous incident that happened THE DAY AFTER the incident with the young bulldog is United flying a dog to Japan..rather than it’s intended destination of Kansas. I don’t know about you but it is very hard for me to understand how a worker could mistake a tag (which I’m assuming is a way they sort the animals and their locations) for Kansas for Japan instead? Not only did they mess up the destination, they did not know where the dog was until 2:30am of the next day.
Of the 24 animals that died while being handled by airline companies, 18 of those animals were handled by United. So in conclusion, do NOT fly your precious animals with United Airlines.