A family was devastated when they went to pick up their new puppy from the airport, only to discover he had died in transit.
The 12-week-old Yorkshire Terrier puppy, named Sebastian, was flying from his breeder in Ohio to LAX via Atlanta with Delta Air Lines when the tragedy allegedly occurred.
Cory Mcjimson, from California, told TMZ the dog was going to be a birthday present for his five-year-old daughter, but that he died before the family got to meet him.
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Mr Mcjimson claimed that he went to pick up Sebastian from the Delta cargo office, but when he opened the puppy’s carrying case, he saw the dog was not moving or breathing.
He informed Delta officials, who took Sebastian to a nearby animal hospital, but it was too late. The puppy was pronounced dead by 9pm.
Mr Mcjimson said he had told his children the dog was ill as he didn’t want to upset them.
“Pets are an important member of the family and we are focused on the well-being of all animals we transport,” said a Delta spokesperson.
“We extend our deepest condolences to Sebastian’s family and are conducting a thorough review of the situation to understand what happened.”
It follows a number of stories of pets dying during flights.
In January, a woman accused Qantas of neglect after her dog died during a flight from Sydney to Brisbane in Australia.
Kay Newman described the incident as “100 per cent preventable” in an emotive Facebook post.
She claimed her beloved boxer Duke was left out on the tarmac in the 39C heat for too long before his crate was loaded onto the plane.
Ms Newman said she “started to cry” and raised her concerns with Qantas staff, who assured her Duke would be fine.
However, when Ms Newman went to pick up Duke at Brisbane airport, she was summoned to a back room and told he had passed away at some point during the flight.
A Qantas spokesperson told The Independent: “We have expressed our sympathies to Kay about the passing of her dog, Duke.
“There was an unexpected delay with the flight which meant he was on the tarmac for longer than usual but our baggage handlers said Duke was fine when he was loaded onto the aircraft.
“Snub nosed dogs, such as boxers, bulldogs and pugs can suffer from respiratory issues which means they are at a higher risk when travelling by air.”
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