Everyone wants to travel with their furry friends but packing them in your carry-on will only make your pet (and airport officials) barking mad.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisc., recently discovered a small dog nestled in a U.S. traveller’s carry-on baggage after the animal went through an X-ray machine.
The carry-on, and the dog inside, were small enough to fit into a plastic security tray.
On Twitter, the TSA shared a photo of the backpack-style bag and claimed the animal was “accidentally” sent through the security X-ray.
“When traveling with any animal, notify your airline & know their rules,” the TSA wrote. “At the checkpoint, remove your pet from the bag and send all items, including the empty carrier, to be screened in the machine.”
A TSA spokesperson told CBS News that the American passenger was unaware of screening protocols for traveling with pets and did not notify security of the dog, which is apparently a dachshund/chihuahua mix. The carry-on was a backpack-style animal carrier, the spokesperson said.
The passenger and the dog both safely boarded their airplane once cleared by security, CBS reported.
The TSA also shared a video of the “proper way to travel with your pet,” featuring a passenger with a cat carrier.
TSA Southeast spokesperson Mark Howell chimed in on Twitter and referenced another case of a packed chihuahua discovered by TSA agents in 2015. This dog was discovered in a suitcase at LaGuardia Airport in New York City and was reunited with its owner.
The backpack-bound dachshund/chihuahua is the most recent pet to be discovered packed in someone’s baggage. In November, the TSA said a Florida-bound passenger had unknowingly packed their cat into their checked luggage.
The cat, whose name is Smells, was found at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after also going through an X-ray machine.
Most airlines in the U.S. and Canada allow pets to travel with their owners if their pet carrier can fit underneath one of the cabin’s seats. Special exceptions can be made for service animals.
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