A woman was offered $1,800 from Delta Airlines after they lost her dog at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
On August 18, Paula Rodriguez was booked on a flight to San Francisco from the Dominican Republic with her dog Maia for a two-week-long vacation.
However, during their layover in Georgia, Rodriguez was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol over missing visa credentials and was denied entry. She was then forced to spend the night at a detention center so she could fly back to Santo Domingo the following morning, as reported by Atlanta News First.
Rodriguez was unable to get her rescue dog back during this time and was informed by border officials that she would get that opportunity once she was back in the Dominican Republic.
According to the New York Post, Delta promised to keep an eye on the traveler's six-year-old dog while she awaited deportation, but when it became time to board her flight at 10:20AM the following day, she was notified that Maia was nowhere to be found.
The devastating news left Rodriguez in tears as she pleaded with border officials to let her find her precious pup before she boarded her flight, but they allegedly told her that due to US regulations, she was not allowed to be in the airport for "more than 24 hours".
When she arrived in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez explained that she tried to get answers from Delta officials. "I started making calls, I started making claims, nobody knew where she was," she told the Atlanta-based publication.
Rodriguez also disclosed that she was contacted by a Delta representative, but they told her that Maia had "broken out of her kennel" and had been missing since.
"After that, Delta hasn’t called me once or emailed me about the whereabouts of my dog," she claimed.
Sadly, Maia has still not been located, however, Delta reached out to Rodriguez to offer her $1,800 and said that the payment is not an "offer of compensation," in a statement obtained by outlets.
The airline also claimed to have "shown empathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer," and added that it "remains heartbroken" over the situation.
Nonetheless, Rodriguez's lawyer thinks Delta’s efforts have fallen short and has deemed the payment as an "insult".
Taking matters into her own hands, the heartbroken dog owner has shared her story on social media so people can be on the lookout for Maia if they are at the Atlanta airport. She has even issued a $1,000 reward for any information on where her precious dog might be.
Furthermore, Rodriguez's sister Danielle has also created a GoFundMe to raise money for additional resources that could help locate Maia.
