A “very famous” person is very upset after a Giant Rabbit being transported by united airlines from London Heathrow to O’Hare Airport in Chicago died in transit. Simon the giant rabbit measured 3f t in length and was 10 months old when he died in the cargo section of a Boeing 767 en route to his new celebrity owner. The rabbit reportedly had the potential to grow to a record-breaking size.
Father of the giant rabbit was over 4 ft in size
According to the Sun newspaper, Annette Edwards, 65, a rabbit breeder from Worcester, told them the giant rabbit was expected to grow to a record-breaking size as his father, Darius, was 4ft 4in.
Edwards added that the rabbit’s buyer was “very famous.”
The Guardian reports that a spokeswoman for United Airlines had confirmed that they were offering assistance to a customer, while reviewing the incident on the London to Chicago flight. She added that the company is “saddened” to hear the news, saying the safety and well-being of all animals that travel with the airline is of the “utmost importance" to them and their PetSafe team.
Rabbit set to be world's biggest dies on United Airlines flight in fresh PR disaster https://t.co/GzZS90oyOD via @yahoo
— ronald,s.perazzosr (@ronperazzosr) April 26, 2017
Previous United Airlines scandal still doing the rounds
The latest incident comes just under three weeks after Dr.
David Dao was seen on video, being dragged off a United Airlines flight. That video sparked outrage worldwide after the 69-year-old was forcibly removed from the flight, bloody and screaming, when he refused to give up his seat to an airline employee. Ironically Simon the giant rabbit was heading to the same airport in which Dr.
Dao was removed from the plane.
The Guardian quotes the latest figures from the US Department of Transportation dating from 2015, which showed that 35 animal deaths had occurred on the flights of 17 carriers in the U.S. 14 of those deaths were attributed to United Airlines, with another nine of the 100,000 animals in transit with that airline reportedly injured.
Giant rabbit was completely healthy before flying United Airlines
Edwards went on to say that “something strange had happened” on the flight and she wanted to know what. According to a vet check-up three hours prior to the flight, the giant rabbit was fit and healthy. She added that she has sent rabbits on various airlines all over the world and has experienced nothing like this before. Edwards again went on to stress that the client who purchased Simon the giant rabbit is a celebrity and that he is upset.
As noted by the Sun, Twitter erupted with a series of memes and jokes about the unfortunate passing of the giant rabbit. He even got his very own hashtag #SimonTheRabbit.
United Airlines have a suspect#unitedAIRLINES #SimonTheRabbit pic.twitter.com/tDgc0aDn8Y
— S4RK (@S4RKY) April 26, 2017
Why did @united kill Simon the giant rabbit? Did he refuse to give up his seat??? #unitedAIRLINES
— MYKEL LA FLAME (@Dirtyhamster416) April 26, 2017
I'm guessing business class passengers were treated to a choice of salmon en croute or rabbit stew #unitedAIRLINES https://t.co/zMZ82CJhwS
— Mister Race Bannon (@MrRaceBannon) April 26, 2017
One poked fun at a recent story about a scorpion falling out of the overhead locker on a United flight.
@kashanacauley Did they check to see if the rabbit had been killed by a scorpion? This is #unitedAIRLINES we're talking about
— Anebriate (@Anebriate) April 26, 2017
Yet another tweet poked fun at the airline's recent PR recovery attempts.
How does @united overcome a PR dumpster fire? By putting on more gasoline. Poor Simon. #UnitedAirlines #SimonTheRabbit
— K. (@sinnamon_girl) April 26, 2017