United Airlines mistakenly sent a family’s dog, which was bound for Kansas City, to Japan — nearly 10,000 kilometres away from the animal’s original destination.
United Airlines is investigating how the German shepherd, named Irgo, was loaded onto an international flight to Japan, instead of a domestic flight to Missouri.
According to NBC News, Kara Swindle and her two children flew Tuesday from Oregon to Kansas City. After arriving, the family went to United’s cargo facility to grab their 10-year-old family dog, only to be handed a Great Dane instead.
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“They showed me the kennel, and the minute I said ‘Irgo’ up pops this Great Dane and not my dog,” Swindle told the news station. “And it has already been a whirlwind of an adventure for moving so I instantly burst into tears just wondering where my dog was. I was confused, upset and just in utter shock that this was not my dog.
“I mean, my kennel had his dog tag name on it, everything. So how they mixed this up, we have no idea,” the dog owner said.
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Swindle, who’s in the process of moving, told NBC that it was the first time Irgo had been on a plane and the animal was suffering from an ear infection prior to the flight.
According to KCTV5 News, United told Swindle it wasn’t clear how the dogs had switched places. The Great Dane, which she found in Kansas City, was supposed to go to Japan. Swindle said she was told her German shepherd would be examined by a veterinarian before being placed on a flight home.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be able to sustain this flight, because he is a 10-year-old dog, and he’s never been on a flight before,” Swindle told KCTV5 News. “I honestly don’t know if he’s going to survive this flight.”
The airlines issued a statement, apologizing for the mix-up.
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“An error occurred during connections in Denver for two pets sent to the wrong destinations. We have notified our customers that their pets have arrived safely and will arrange to return the pets to them as soon as possible,” United said in the statement. “We apologize for this mistake and are following up with the vendor kennel where they were kept overnight to understand what happened.”
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The news of Irgo’s unplanned odyssey comes as United admits another dog died after a flight attendant forced it to travel in an overhead bin on a Houston-to-New York flight.
Last year, 18 animals, mostly dogs, died while being transported on United – three-fourths of all animal deaths on U.S. carriers, according to the Department of Transportation. Those figures represent animals that die in cargo holds.
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Swindle told NBC that she doesn’t know if she will ever fly United ever again.
“I think I would rather drive,” Swindle said.
–with a file from the Associated Press
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