John Travolta's dogs killed in airport mishap; airline offers credit for loss of Canadian couple's dog

Sad news: Two small dogs belonging to actor John Travolta and his family were killed in an accident at Maine's Bangor International Airport last week.

The Travoltas, dogs in tow, reportedly landed at the airport about 1 a.m. May 13. An unidentified person, described as "someone who is not a family member" in a statement released by the city confirming the accident, was walking the dogs from the tarmac to a nearby grassy area when they were struck by an airport service truck whose driver failed to see them. The dogs were both on leashes when they were hit, according to the Associated Press.

The airport is investigating the accident, the Bangor Daily News reported Tuesday. It's unclear whether the driver, who has not been named, will face charges or disciplinary action. The person walking the dogs was not injured.

Airport mishaps involving dogs have been a hot topic in recent weeks; the Travolta incident was preceded by one in which a dog was lost while in the care of Delta Airlines staff members in the Mexico City airport.

That dog's owner, Josiah Allen, recently told the website Consumerist that the animal was to travel to Ontario on a Delta flight, but he and his girlfriend "were told that it was never loaded on the plane in the first place, and that it was forgotten in Mexico City but would be cared for by Delta employees and walked, fed, watered, and would be sent on the next flight to Detroit, and then get delivered to my house in Ontario, Canada."

When Allen called the airline the following day to inquire about the dog's whereabouts, "no one seemed to have any answers or have any idea about the location of my dog," he wrote. "I was shocked." Eventually, a Delta employee reportedly said that the dog, a mixed breed named Paco whom the couple rescued from the streets of Puerto Vallarta, had escaped from his travel carrier and disappeared. Adding insult to injury, Allen said, was the fact that the airline responded by "offering their apology and refunding the cost for transporting a pet ($200USD) in a credit to be used with Delta Airlines. I think that this is completely absurd as there is no chance of me flying with Delta Airlines again."

After the story broke, "Delta reached out to Josiah and said sorry, along with offering to reimburse him for all the costs he put into the dog and two additional $200 vouchers for future travel on their airline," a later post on Consumerist explained.

Delta spokesperson Susan Chana Elliott told CNN in a statement that "staff have conducted exhaustive searches to locate the dog," but Paco has yet to be located. Allen told Consumerist that he doubts the story that Paco escaped from his carrier, since it "was a very secure hard plastic pet carrier with two locks and a metal wire door, and there is no way a small dog (he looked like a mix of a wiener dog and a jack russell) could scratch or break his way out of it."

Pet owners, what have your experiences been like while transporting pets by air? Let us know by leaving a comment -- we'd love to hear from you.

RELATED INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVELING WITH PETS:
Frontier Airlines joins the list of carriers that allow small pets to ride in airplane cabins
Pet Airways, pets-only airline, takes off

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Travolta attends a movie premiere in New York on Jan. 28. Credit: Evan Agostini / Associated Press

Comments

[Sara Thomas]

http://www.facebook.com/saramt2

There is a group on Facebook that has been organizing a search for Paco! There are people on the ground doing the actual searching and have put up several thousand fliers for Paco! T Shirts are being made and will be worn by a group on Saturday to help their search efforts. Please look for this group on Facebook

Protecting Animals on Airline Flights
We are aiming to protect animals who fly in airlines.
They don't have a voice and cannot tell of their horrors.

Join us and help us to bring attention to the airlines that there are too many accidents and the public wants to see a change!, we want to make sure there are tougher penalties for staff that does NOT follow the safety guidelines and procedures! We need help to get this PETITION drafted. Paco alone gathered 10,000 signatures for Delta to see, I know we can get more support for all the animals safety in flight!

[jellyhead]

We need to let the Paco/Delta story go. The owner received a settlement and isn't looking for the dog. There is a small team in Mexico looking for Paco, without Josiahs concent or support but beyond that, Josiah searched for Paco as much as Delta did.

[Sara Thomas]

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104873989559049

This is the link for the group! Again it is called

Protecting animals on Airline flights

And there is a discussion there for the Paco search and rescue efforts as well as a discussion board to develop and begin the petition for the airlines to make tougher policies. Please join us!!

[Sara Thomas]

Well Josiah may not be looking for him but there is still others there looking, it is sad he accepted Deltas settlement which is why we want a new group aimed at all pets that are on flights! We want another petition because the one from Paco is sadly ineffective now!! But it still had 10,000 signatures and that lets me know people are concerned with what happened and Deltas response, which was terrible.

[Valentine]

A very passionate and dedicated group of people found each other to help Paco.

It's a heartwarming story about a man in Mexico City, who went out all on his own, started to canvas the streets, made flyers on his own dime (We're now sending him money), T-Shirts have been offered to be made by a group of animal lovers out of Acapulco for this hero's search. Paco now has at least 2 dedicated angels on the streets down there heading up the search.

We only have the direct report from Delta that has disclosed that Paco's airline approve kennel fell off the baggage truck and he escaped. We seriously doubt he escaped on his own.
Rescue groups and individuals in Mexico, supported by people here in the states have done a fabulous effort searching with very little to go on. Unfortunately they were shut out by Delta as Delta would only talk to the owner and the owner was not supportive to the rescue efforts. Delta lost Paco on May 3rd. We have yet to be able to view surveillance tapes, Paco's new owner has yet to produce a document to enable the experienced groups in Mexico City to get vital information about real events.
Paco's Angel is David.

Please visit our site and please support our search.

http://www.facebook.com/walltowall.php?id=758672641&banter_id=100001135830684&ref=nf#!/group.php?gid=104873989559049&ref=ts

[Rena]

A reply to Jelly Head, that is a good name for you. Animals on flights have no voive in their treatment. I had a pet sent to me because my son was deploying to Guam, when we came to pick him up, the Delta person was just walking around asking anyone if they wanted this dog.He could of gave this dog to anyone he did not care, what would you do if that was your child.He did not ask us for ID or anything just handed us our pet. We could have been anyone.

And of course Delta charges 100.00 for your pet to be crushed under your seat while your traveling,

I am so digusted anyone can please e-mail me and I will help get this show on the road , pets are treated horrible makes me sick to see what the airlines do, and the people that work there.

Also there are supposed to be in most airports places to walk your dogs well do not go to Texas, asked a man about it said he didn't know go outside, he said, travel through security again, here come to find out there was a place he just did not feel like telling us.

What a sad country we live in.

Again to Jelly Head you make me sick, do you think money is going to make the person feel better after losing there pet. Sounds to me your a cold callous person, take a flight!!!make sure your in the cargo hold.

[D. Snedegar]

Delta lost my dog at one time. It went to a different destination than I did. It was very interesting, because when the flight borded as it was a connection, the airline attendant came to my seat and told me the dog was on the plane-as I had requested. When I got to my destination, there was no pet. Luckily for me one of the loading backage people remembered putting a dog on another flight going to another city-and it was mine. Delta did reimburse me for the payment of the dog ticket. It was a anxious time for me.

The attendant lied to me!!!!

[istrad]

We flew our 5 dogs to Europe 4 years ago and we had one connection flight in Frankfurt. 3 were in the luggage hold and one was with us on board. We did not have a good experience. First, nowhere in US airports could we walk the dogs. They all had to be in the boxes, bags hours before, regardless of the wait. In European airports you can walk your dog around on a leash (out of the bag). Also, we paid for the on board dog but got NO SERVICE. What are we exactly paying for? We were extremely vigilant and at the Frankfurt tarmac we saw the cages on a loading cart and I made my husband go check on them to make sure they were ok, while we were boarding the plane. We got yelled at by the crew but who cares, we needed to make sure our pets were fine. They were fine, both ways, but we flew Lufthansa.

[Sara Thomas]

This is to Rena, I don't know Jellyhead, but I do know what they are referencing too, and that is the people who lost Paco, Josiah. He did accept Deltas pay off and did not help with the efforts by many wonderful people to help find him. They are in fact still on the ground searching but most of them were kicked off the original find Paco site! Because the family who lost him thought the pressure was too much and they counted on Delta to return the dog, instead of making the efforts the others have made! So, I am not sure jellyhead meant she thought they SHOULD take the settlement, but sadly, that they did!! And, after doing so, the notified people, many days later after a short vacation themselves, they closed the site completely that was to find Paco. And no one even knows now what is going to be done if anything with the 10,000 signatures that we gathered to make Delta find Paco!!!

Rena, please come and join our group on Face Book and help us get busy! The group is for ALL animals, and also include a discussion board for the people that are continuing the search for Paco!!

It is called

Protecting Animals on Airline Flights

there aim is: We are aiming to protect animals who fly in airlines.
They don't have a voice and cannot tell of their horrors.!!

All the help and suggestions to make the airlines better accountable are welcomed

[Lorelei]

RE: Josiah Allen pet lost by Delta Airlines.
PET OWNERS UNITE!!!
Realize & voice that this type of incident is completely UNACCEPTABLE!!!
To some, animals are just that, animals...
To others, they are treasured members of our families... Shame on you DELTA AIRLINES!!!
Perhaps if you too lost a treasured member of YOur family, you'd be better able to comprehend...
PEOPLE please advocate the rights of helpless pets!!!

[seejay]

I refuse to travel with my pets out of my personal control. I will only fly or travel when they are physically with me. I flew both my cats from Ontario, Canada, to California, USA, through JetBlue because AirCanada and other airlines would not let me take them in the cabin with me. JetBlue had no problems letting them fly in the cabin (contained in carriers that fit under the seat) and while the trip was stressful for them, I knew they were safe and under my care 100% of the time. Reading these horror stories only reaffirms for me how I will continue to travel with them in the future.

My pets are like my children to me. I wouldn't expect parents to send their children through cargo, same as I would never put my pets through it. JetBlue definitely receives my approval for allowing me the choice.

[Chris]

My cat somehow got out in the belly of a Delta Airlines 757 from Honolulu to LAX three weeks ago. Fortunately, they found it hiding behind other cargo in the plane. I wrote about my experience here: www.archerbravo.com/bravoblog

[Online]

The very sad truth is that this new guy in Paco's life really didn't search for him, unless your "Search" means exclusively on the phone with Delta and doing media. Not to say those are bad but keep reading...

Amazing people stepped up and tried to actually do a search and rescue and this young man ignored their pleas to come back to Mexico. Good hearted people even offered to pay his round trip ticket. Delta shut these pet rescuers down and they could not move any further in Mexico without this young man either being in Mexico or giving his authorization. He has finally (some 2 weeks later) contacted the people in Mexico who actually have been doing a search... this after being badgered by many people on his FB site (and why set up a site at all if all you want people to do is to call the big corporate giant who lied to you?).
His whole family complains that everyone is picking on them and wanting them to do things their way. They are trying to play the "we've done things" card, yet they themselves just now stated that all Josiah wanted out of putting up the site was to have people call Delta. They NEVER told all these angels who were coordinating rescues and people here in the states who were referring other groups to help with their resources.
Josiah collected (as reported) nearly $1,000 from Delta, refused to go to Mexico and did not help the people who tried to stand up for Paco.
Josiah spent something like 3 or 4 days with this dog and then ran home to Canada, got media interest, put up a facebook page then didn't listen to a thing seasoned animal groups tried to tell him about what was needed to actually find Paco.
I feel very sorry for Paco, this kid needs a wake up call. As far as I'm concerned he gave up any possible rights he had to this dog when he accepted compensation.
Other people have donated money for the people searching for Paco in Mexico City, but not Joisah.
Rena, this is why Jellyhead is so upset with this guy. Please read that post again. It's the true animal lovers who are upset.
Yes, poor you Joisah... it's all about you isn't it!

[Yolanda]

I am horrified to read about the Travolta´s dogs and Paco´s whearabouts. My boyfriend and I are moving from London to LA next year and have to transfer two cats and one large dog and so far I have refused to look into standard airline transfer and after reading these stories I think I´m right! Does anyone know of any airlines who deal with only transferring live animals? I wouldn´t trust anything else unless they could travel with me in the cabin, and the size of our dog would make that impossible.
Thanks!

[KidandButterfly]

Here's where they're really telling the personal details of what has transpired with the Delta Loses Dog conundrum. The comments are quite telling.
http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/05-12-10-move-over-harry-potter-delta-makes-dog-wholly-disappear-from-flight/

[Annie]

Its so sad that they have experienced so much tragedy!

[Red Mahler-Vazquez]

Analytical mind here: The airlines story was that the dog escaped his crate and ran away. Where is the crate? Did the airlines send the owner the crate? If not-- it says something-- if so, it says something. In all probablity, the reason they didn't send the dog on the flight with them to begin with is because they managed to kill the dog inside the crate and didn't want to have to 'fess up. Summer in Mexico City? Heat alone would have killed a living thing packed into the luggage compartment. Ya'll wasting your time and money trying to find a lost dog-- do better to send someone there to bribe a luggage handler to tell them the truth. If you got the crate back, possible there would be forensic evidence. Unless, of course, they washed it. The guys who work on the ground shifting luggage around would know the truth as common workplace gossip. Shipping one's animals is risky. Anyone remember the fabulous showdog that the folks at New York Intn'l managed to 'lose'? Want to spend your money better? Lobby for laws making the airlines super responsible for losing peoples's animals; more responsible monetarily for losing them than for accidentally letting them die, but all should be punished.

[Dana]

This is so pathetic. I would NEVER allow an airline to take care of my dogs. Not to mention how helpless and scared they would be! They are like children.

[Donna Roch]

I just purchased my very first Ch. Bred Yorkshire Terrier to use in my small breeding program. I had the breeder fly him to my through Delta Dash in their cargo area with climate control. The crate was secured with zip ties and the airport placed a wide white locking band on the door prior to flight. The dog is a 19 month male that I was planning on using for breeding purposes. (Please note that all my dogs are like family ... I make home-made food for them and they even sleep in my bed. I love each!) He was flown from North Carolina to Philly International with one lay over. It was the only thing available and the cost to fly Delta Dash was costly. Once the dog arrived in Philly (on Saturday afternoon) it was transported to the Delta Cargo Center. It took me a little while to find that location but got there within approx. 10 mins at most. When I went inside with my 23 yr. old daughter to sign and release my new dog to me, I notice the crate door was not secured and I inquired about it. I was told by the 20 something young girl that it was a courtesy. Not thinking much about it I took my new dog outside, placed the crate in my car, opened its door, put a collar around his neck and a leash to walk him for a potty break. This yorkie was fully groomed like a show dog with his hair to the ground. What I noticed was he was excited and tried to run a little and in his attempt his front legs pulled to the left while his back legs appeared to run straight. I attributed this to him not being use to being on a leash. I called the breeder while I was at the cargo center and she agreed he wasn't use to a leash. When I got him home I placed him in isolation until I would be able to get him to a vet on Tuesday. My vet has no Monday hours and the isolation is due to my breeding business and not wanting to risk any possible conditions that may be unknown to me. This is always what anyone should do before introducing new animals into an environment with other animals. Monday evening I brought the little guy downstairs because he began crying and barking a lot from not wanting to be alone. When he was downstairs with us he just stood there looking at us and I thought "wow, he's so mellow ... doesn't run around like my other yorkies". I also tried to walk him a little outside. I live in a city so I thought he was afraid of all the noise, etc. because he stayed behind me and I actually had to coax him into taking baby steps. I attributed his lack of wanting to walk as being afraid. He went back upstairs to sleep and on Tuesday morning I went to prep him for a bath prior to taking him to the vet because by this time he was somewhat dirty from going to the bathroom and having long hair. As I was prepping I heard a yelp from my other room. I went in to see what happened, I picked him up ... gave his some love ... and went to put him down. This is when I noticed he could not put weight on his leg. I rushed him to UPenn vet hosp. and was informed his front left leg was broken. (Both bones completely snapped). I couldn't understand how this happened. The neurosurgeon told me this type of injury is a direct result of either falling or jumping from up high. In hindsight remembering how he ran off to the left side when at the cargo center for a potty break, how he didn't run and play, how he wouldn't walk and how the crate had been untethered leads me to belief that someone opened the crate and maybe tried to hold him and he jumped resulting in a fractured that later broke once he actually moved around and put weight on it. I cried for two days straight and reported this to Delta. A representative from Delta stated that the breeder probably just wanted to pawn off this dog onto me and stated Delta is not liable. The neurosurgeon informed me that there was no old healing evident and this fracture resulting in a break was within the last few days. It saddens me to realize I could have driven down to North Carolina to pick him up and had prevented this from happening to him. Never ever will I fly an animal unless they come in the cabin area with me under the seat. As for Delta, I too will not ever use them again. This is intolerable the way they have little to no concern for the animals they transport. They do charge enough money to fly them and they do want us to use their services but don't want to be held accountable when things go wrong. Shame on Delta.

So he now has a plate in his leg, a splint on the outside of his leg and I need to keep him from running, jumping and even walking on this leg for the better part of the day. Neurosurgeon said 23 out of the 24 hours -- off the leg for the next 6 to 8 weeks. Well how do I manage that with a yorkie ... they love to run and play. I actually have to keep him confined to a rather smaller crate due to him jumping when I put him in a larger 4 x 4 pen. This is unbearable and he tends to cry a lot. It just not fair. Oh, and my one female just came into her heat cycle and now I can not use him for breeding. Thanks Delta. I guess my little guy is just like a piece of property, i.e., a chair?? I don't love chairs, I don't make home-made food for chairs and I absolutely do not sleep with chairs!

Never ever fly your animals! I learned this the hard way and hope these types of posts will aid in others giving great thought before placing their loved ones in the care of money grubbing airlines who don't feel any remorse about the injuries, deaths and losses of our precious companions.

I too asked about cameras in their warehouse so as I could fully understand what happened to my dog. I was told there are no cameras. What! no cameras? ... with all the security issues at airports, no cameras! I think this representative is lying but how do I prove it!

I will try the court system to recover my expenses which to date are well over $4,000 and I'm not done yet. No pain and suffering for this guy because well he is just a piece of property that now has to stay in a crate for most of the day for 6 to 8 weeks! What about me not being able to use him as a stud right now for my one female in heat ... what about that! See you in court Delta!

[Dorothy Burson]

I've just moved from Christchurch, New Zealand to Oregon, USA six weeks ago. After talking to Qantus, Air New Zealand and "all" approved pet transport companys, I decided that the most compassionate thing I could do for Kitty and Gizmo was to have a vet euthanize them. I loved them with all my heart. These two beautiful little cats were my children and I cry every day, thinking about what I was forced to do. I didn't care about the cost of transporting them, I just needed to know they would arrive safely. After being given the runaround by the airlines etc. when I made enquires about their care, I felt that it was just too risky. Now after reading all the horror stories out there, I know I made the right decision even though it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and that it broke my heart. To everyone that has ever lost a pet due to airline indifference, my heart goes out to you. And too all the people who reckon it's just some dumb animal "who cares, get over it", I hope that when you die, you will be condemed to spend the rest of eternity trapped in a small cage inside an airline cargo hold and at the mercy of baggage handlers.