Puppy dies on United after flight attendant insists on him being kept in overhead bin.
What a horrific story. Passengers on the flight could hear the small dog barking in the bin -- till he died.
http://people.com/pets/dog-dies-on-united-flight-overhead-bin/
“The flight attendant told the passenger that her bag was blocking part of the aisle. I could not see it, as I was already in my seat, but it sounded like it was somehow not completely fitting beneath the seat in front of her,” Gremminger says of the encounter. “After the flight attendant asked her to move it above, the woman adamantly refused, communicating her dog was in the bag. There was some back and forth before finally the flight attendant convinced her to move the carrier to the bin above.”
After watching the woman stow her dog, Gremminger says she talked with her seat partner about how “stunned” they were to see a pet be placed in the overhead bin. At this point, Gremminger started to look up information online about whether overhead bins were safe for pets, but was unable to find any information before she had to turn off her phone for takeoff.
While the situation seemed off to Gremminger, she can understand why the owner ultimately decided to follow the flight attendant’s instruction.
“My only thought is that if it had been me, it would have been a hard scenario. The flight attendant is the authority figure, who should be trusted. I was thinking ‘maybe there is an improved ventilation system’ or something of the sorts,” Gremminger says. “Also, the owner had an infant and other daughter. Causing a scene before flight could risk being kicked off the flight. I can only imagine she felt stuck in her decision to comply.”
What Gremminger says haunts her the most about this experience was hearing the canine call out from the overhead bin, once while the plane was taking off and again during several moments of turbulence about thirty minutes into the flight. After this the dog was silent.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2018/03/13/puppy-dies-after-flight-attendant-insists-stored-overhead-bin/VTwUr1mhDgu7dUkNbwAscL/story.html
“I witnessed a United flight attendant instruct a woman to put her dog carrier with live dog in an overhead bin,” Gremminger said in a Twitter post. “The passenger adamantly pushed back, sharing verbally that her dog was in the bag. The flight attendant continued to ask the passenger to do it, and she eventually complied.”
She said the dog was in a TSA-approved carrier, but the flight attendant still insisted the carrier be placed in the bin.
“There was no sound as we landed and opened his kennel,” another passenger, June Lara, wrote in a Facebook post. “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.”
The dog’s owner was left in tears. Lara’s post said the puppy’s name was Papacito.
“I assumed there must be ventilation [in the overhead bin] as surely the flight attendant wouldn’t have instructed this otherwise,” Gremminger wrote. “I heard the dog barking a little and we didn’t know it was a cry for help.”
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