Entire Dog Lost, Delta Offers $200 Credit

http://consumerist.com/2010/05/delta-loses-entire-dog.html

By Ben Popken on May 7, 2010 11:00 AM



Where's Paco? Josiah doesn't know, his girlfriend doesn't know, someone at Delta might know. After all, Delta was supposed to load Josiah's new dog on the same plane that Josiah got on. Paco didn't land with them. Frantic, Josiah called around desperately before being told that Paco was safe and sound, being taken care of by Delta employees, who would put him on the next flight out. Paco wasn't on that one either. More harried calls and Delta told Josiah Paco had "escaped" and the best they could do is refund his $200.00 pet transportation fee, but only as a "credit" for future Delta travel. That doesn't do Josiah any good, as he's vowed to never fly Delta again. Here's his story, and more adorable/sad puppy pictures:

UPDATE: Delta Offers $380 Plus 2 More $200 Vouchers For Lost Pooch

UPDATE: Delta spokesperson Susan Elliott says, "This is extremely rare for a situation like this to happen." She says that they are going to be offering Josiah "additional compensation as well as our sincere apology."

UPDATE: Josiah says the dog was vaccinated four days prior to the flight for rabies, kennel cough, and giardia, and given two other drugs, Canigen L Canigen MHA2PPi. He says the vet told him that the dog only needed to be vaccinated 3 days before flying.

It should be noted that the rabies vaccine is not considered effective until 30 days after administration.

However, even if this was a factor, Josiah says he was not asked to show any proof of the dog's shots and Delta personnel told that this would be asked for in customs in Detroit.

“
Hi, my name is Josiah and I recently travelled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Delta Airlines, and I am so appalled by them I can't stand it. I booked my flights online, and that part went smoothly, but that's the only good part of my traveling with them. I flew out of Detroit Metro in the early morning of April 24th 2010, and flew to Atlanta to catch a transfer which would take me to Puerto Vallarta. After arriving about an hour late and having to run to catch my plane, they said that they weren't boarding any more passengers, but were taking an extra fifteen minutes to load all the baggage on the plane. When we arrived in Puerto Vallarta I was informed that, along with most people who were on the original flight from Detroit, my baggage never left the Atlanta airport, and I had to wait until the next day to receive all of my clothes and necessities for traveling.

Now, while I know that this isn't too out of the ordinary, and that airlines have baggage delayed quite commonly, the next issue is one that is completely unacceptable and should never happen regardless of circumstances. When in Mexico, my girlfriend and I rescued a stray dog which our hosts said had been seen all over the town. We took him to the vet's, got him all of his shots, an eye infection treated, two baths to clean him from hundreds of dog ticks that were covering his whole body, and gave him the name Paco. After this treatment at the vet clinic, we had to spend multiple additional hours picking more ticks from his body. We soon discovered that this dog was a very lucky find, and that it would be loyal and friendly to my girlfriend and I. It would walk by my side along the beach and along the sidewalks, went to the washroom outside, didn't bark at cars or other dogs, and would sleep on the bed next to us curled up in a ball quite contently. My girlfriend and I were both very excited to take him back home to Canada with us, and we quite readily paid for an airline approved pet carrier and the costs associated with checking a pet on an airplane to travel as baggage, as he was too big to be taken as carry-on.

Everything went smoothly traveling with AeroMéxico from Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City, where we had a five hour layover. We took the dog out so he could go to the bathroom and stretch his legs in-between our flights, and two hours before we departed from Mexico City to Detroit Metro we checked him with Delta for the flight. It took us a whole hour to check the dog because Delta said that the pet carrier we purchased was not big enough, despite the vet who treated the dog saying it was large enough, and it meeting all the criteria such as the dog being able to turn around and stand up. We spent the hour trying to convince the Delta employee that the carrier was large enough, and after seeing two separate supervisors, we had to sign a waiver saying that if my dog Paco received any injuries as a result of the size of the carrier, that Delta Airlines was not responsible.

After the fiasco of the size of the carrier being an issue, they assured us that Paco would be alright and transported safely to Detroit. However, when we arrived in Detroit and waited for twenty minutes at the pet claim, we began to suspect that something was wrong. We spent two hours in the Detroit Metro Airport trying to sort out what had happened to our dog, and we were told that it was never loaded on the plane in the first place, and that it was forgotten in Mexico City but would be cared for by Delta employees and walked, fed, watered, and would be sent on the next flight to Detroit, and then get delivered to my house in Ontario, Canada.



FULL story at link.

Why can't the airlines get their act together? Given how many incidents have occurred with various airlines, I think a class action lawsuit may be in order to address this.

"United Breaks Guitars" I see a follow up song coming up.

This isn't a bag or other piece of luggage. It's a living, breathing thing. A pet for chrissakes.

Idiots.

It's a cutie pie of a dog.

Don't
Expect
Luggage (or maybe labrador)
To
Arrive

I suspect a Delta employee took a liking to the dog. Or it died due to mishandling and someone covered it up.

There is security and cameras everywhere and something like a dog would surely be noticed.

:(

but it didn't arrive in Los Angeles.

I don't know any fellow Losties IRL. Wanna trade theories? (Please say yes!)

I don't really have a coherent theory. :shrug:

So they lost the entire dog, instead of only part of the dog?

would be simpler

I didn't get the "entire" part of the description.

Paco was flying from Mexico City and they had a lay over in Arizona. When Arizona customs saw Paco's name tag they asked for his papers, and when he couldn't produce them, he was detained by Arizona officials. He's currently lost somewhere in the bureaucracy, but some are reporting that he was deported back to Mexico.... :sarcasm:

...sorry, I don't want to make light of this horrible incident. :( It's really awful and I hope that Paco is found, but I have a feeling that he could be anywhere by now - even on another continent. Or he could have been taken by the people supposedly caring for him as he looks and sounds like a really, really sweet dog. I really hope these folks go PETA on Delta's ass - not only did they lose their adorable dog, but the way they were treated afterward is inexcusable.

I agree with the blog entry though. I don't buy the whole "he escaped from his cage" thing. He should demand that they return the cage to him - since it is his property - if for no other reason so he can use it as evidence against them in a potential lawsuit. At the very least Delta should agree to refund ALL charges, including the cost of their tickets, cover all the money spent on the dog, in addition to giving some additional cash for emotional damages. That is the ONLY acceptable outcome, short of getting Paco back safe and sound.

extremes of temperature, after all. Besides, I wouldn't trust total strangers with beloved members of my family who can't take care of themselves.

Although I was under the impression that areas where pets are kept are climate-controlled....?

The holds where the animals ride are pressurized and temp controlled.

One of the scariest things about my job is when animal transport is messed up. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does we let the passenger decide what we can do for them, and just about crawl over broken glass to accommodate them. One time a guy missed the flight and his Golden Retriever was gonna be stuck in the airport overnight. He phoned us in a panic, and I took the dog home with me until the next morning. The guy showed up at the airport the next day, and the dog was all rested, fed and happy--especially since we had another Golden at home, so the two of them were in Heaven.

I share this anecdote because I believe most of us airline employees understand what family pets mean to our passengers. I'm sorry Paco and Family had such a bad experience, but happily it's rare. I hope they pursue the matter and get some satisfaction.