A French bulldog owner claims that his pup died on a flight due to anxiousness from being moved from first class to coach.
Michael Contillo said he bought two first-class tickets on Alaska Airlines for himself and his father so that their two dogs would have more space and be surrounded by fewer passengers.
But just before departing from New York on February 1, ‘an Alaska Airlines flight attendant and another unknown male employee of Alaska Airlines asked the Plaintiff and his father to move to aisle 11 of the Plane for safety purposes’, states a lawsuit Contillo filed on October 16.
Contillo claimed that his dogs were ‘calm’ but would not be when the plane was full of people.
‘To move the dogs now would make them very anxious and excited, which would lead to extremely dangerous breathing and heart problems,’ states the complaint filed in San Francisco County Superior Court.
‘This change could be lethal for a dog, especially right before you change altitudes.’
Contillo alleges that flight attendants ignored their pleas and that one of his dogs, Ash, ‘immediately started breathing very quickly and heavily, with noticeable anxiety’.
He said he was ordered to close the pet carrier and saw that Ash ‘stopped moving but could not check on him until after a certain altitude had been reached’.
When the plane landed at San Francisco International Airport, Ash’s body was in rigor mortis, which happens about four hours after dogs die. The complaint noted that the cross-country flight was five hours long.
The son and his dad started weeping when they found out Ash had died and none of the flight crew ‘stopped to show concern, offer condolences, or show the slightest bit of compassion’, the suit reads.
Short-nosed dogs like bulldogs have a higher risk of dying on planes than pups with regular-lengthed muzzles who do not face as many respiratory problems, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Contillo said he took both of his bulldogs to a veterinary hospital ahead of the flight and was told that they were both healthy.
The lawsuit against Alaska Airlines alleges negligence, contract breach, negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring and supervision. Contillo seeks punitive damages to be determined during the trial.
It is not the first time in recent years that a dog has died aboard a US-based airline.
In 2018, a 10-month-old French bulldog died after its owners were forced to place its pet carrier on the overhead compartment of a United Airlines flight from Houston to New York. Its owners said they heard it bark but were not able to check on her due to turbulence, and claimed that the dog was dead when they retrieved it.
United Airlines stated that it would accept full responsibility for the pup’s death.
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