Many were saddened to hear the shocking story of Kokito, the French bulldog that died on a United Airlines flight this week. Catalina Robledo, her baby, and her 11-year-old daughter Sophia were traveling from Houston to New York along with their 10-month-old puppy on board when the incident occurred.
According to statements given by witnesses, a flight attendant ordered the family to place their dog, which was in an airline-approved carrier, into the overhead compartment. Despite the family's protestations, they were told that those were the rules and left the dog in the compartment. The dog was reportedly barking for two hours of the three-and-a-half hour flight, but upon landing, they discovered that he was dead.
Speaking to CBS, Sophia said:
"He was a really special dog. It's just sad the way he has to, just leave. [We said] 'It's a dog, it's a dog. He can't breathe up there'. And she said, 'It doesn't matter, it still goes up there... She felt the dog and she put him up there."
They both wanted to check on him but couldn't during the flight as they were forced to remain seated for much of the journey, and by the time they could check it was too late. "We tried, but there was a lot of turbulence and we weren't allowed to stand up," Sophia explained. "My mom was crying, she was just screaming, she was looking at him."
After the incident, the flight attendant claimed she didn't know the dog was inside. But other witnesses have said that the family told them directly, as well as showing their sympathies for what happened.
Passenger Maggie Gremminger saw the incident unfold and described it over Twitter:
"I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of a United flight attendant. My heart is broken." She also tweeted: "It was clearly a dog and while the customer was adamant about leaving it under the seat, the attendant pushed her to do so."
On Facebook, another passenger, June Lara, wrote that "he was meant to grow, learn, cry, play with those young children and be their furry friend," but instead the flight attendants "felt that the innocent animal was better off crammed inside the overhead container without air and water".
They then described how Catalina was convinced the dog should be okay, and how she eventually attempted to resuscitate her pet:
"They INSISTED that the puppy be locked up for three hours without any kind of airflow. They assured the safety of the family’s pet so wearily, the mother agreed.
"I held her baby as the mother attempted to resuscitate their 10-month-old puppy. I cried with them three minutes later as she sobbed over his lifeless body. My heart broke with theirs as I realized he was gone."
United Airlines' policy is that the carrier must be placed under the seat, and has backed up claims that the flight attendant believed the carrier was empty and must have misheard the family. In response, they took "full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences".
To prevent this from happening again, by April they are planning to issue bright colored bag tags to customers traveling with in-cabin pets to help flight attendants identify pets in-cabin.
