United Airlines blamed after family’s beloved dog dies on delayed flight

united airlines is once again in hot water after a family lost their beloved five-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Lulu, when a flight was delayed for two hours on the tarmac in Houston.

United flight delayed on the tarmac in Houston for two hours

According to a report by ABC 11’s sister-station KTRK, Lulu was in the cargo hold of the United Airlines plane in a Houston airport waiting for takeoff to San Francisco.

However, the flight was delayed by two hours, leaving the plane on the tarmac in the heat.

ABC News reports that the Rasmussen family posted on their Facebook page to say that when they went to collect their dog after the flight landed, she was found dead in her carrier. According to the owners, their dog’s vet had signed Lulu off in good health prior to the flight. Lulu was a part of the family and now they are grieving and looking for answers as to how their five-year-old dog could die, despite United Airlines’ so-called PetSafe service.

United’s PetSafe service guarantees proper conditions for transporting animals

United’s PetSafe service is said to offer air conditioned and climate controlled holds both in the air, and on board transport vehicles used for the animals, and in warehouses on the ground where the animals are kept. According to United’s website, pets are assured of comfort, whatever the weather conditions. They also guarantee that pets will be the last to be loaded on to the plane and the first to be taken off upon arrival at the destination. However, despite all these claims, United Airlines has a poor history when it comes to transporting pets.

The New York Daily News reports that according to the U.S. Transportation Department, their Air Travel Consumer report this year revealed that 53 animals died between January 2012 and February 2017 on United Airlines flights.

The news of Lulu’s death comes at a time when the airline is being sued by an Iowa businessman over the death of Simon, a three-foot giant rabbit that died after landing in Chicago following a United flight from London. The businessman claims that United neglected the rabbit. On top of this, the airline went ahead and cremated the rabbit after it died, totally against the owners’ wishes.

Last month a dog belonging to rapper ScHoolboy Q was put on the wrong flight and sent 2,000 miles away from his home. When he went to collect his dog, he found another dog entirely, as the pair had been switched by the airline at the airport. The rapper was also planning on suing United over the incident.

KTRK contacted United about the latest incident and their spokesperson confirmed that the King Charles Spaniel died on their flight.

The spokesperson said the airline is always “deeply upset” when an animal suffers injury when traveling with them and grieve over the “rare” incident when an animal dies on one of their flights. They said they would be “reaching out” to the family to assist and that they are running a thorough investigation into the incident.