A criminal probe has been launched into a puppy’s death aboard a United Airlines plane after a flight attendant ordered its owners to stow their pet carrier in an overhead bin.
Kokito, Catelina Robledo’s 10-month-old pup.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas said late Wednesday it is working with the county’s animal cruelty task force to investigate 10-month-old Kokito’s death.
Prosecutors won’t decide if criminal charges are warranted until the probe is completed, officials said in a statement.
The airline is facing a backlash over the French bulldog’s death aboard the Houston-to-New York flight late Monday.
Catalina Robledo, her daughter Sophia Ceballos, 11, and her baby brother were aboard Flight 1284 when a flight attendant told them to place their pet carrier overhead because it was blocking the aisle.
Sophia told NBC News that her mom told the flight attendant, “‘It’s a dog! It’s a dog!’ and (the flight attendant) said we have to put it up there.”
“In the end, she says she didn’t know it was a dog, but she actually touched the bag and felt him there. She’s basically lying to us now,” the distraught girl told ABC News.
Other passengers backed up the family’s account on Twitter and Facebook.
Sophia Ceballos and Catalina Robledo
United acknowledged Wednesday that the family said there was a dog in the carrier.
“However, our flight attendant did not hear or understand her, and did not knowingly place the dog in the overhead bin,” the airline said in a statement.
United has declined to identify the crew member.
Meanwhile, the airline said that beginning next month, it will issue brightly colored tags to passengers traveling with pets so flight attendants can easily recognize the animals, ABC News reported.
“To prevent this from happening again, by April we will issue bright colored bag tags to customers traveling with in-cabin pets,” United said in a statement.
The heart-breaking story prompted the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to call for the flight attendant to be fired and charged with animal cruelty, ABC News reported.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) also said he sent a letter to United president Scott Kirby, “demanding an immediate explanation for the number of animals who have died recently in United Airlines’ care.”
“This pattern of animal deaths and injuries is simply inexcusable,” the letter read. “For many people, pets are members of the family. They should not be treated like insignificant cargo. Frankly, they shouldn’t be placed in the cargo hold much less an overhead bin.”
Kennedy said he plans to file a bill Thursday that would prohibit airlines from placing pets in overhead compartments.
“Violators will face significant fines. Pets are family,” he wrote.
The US Department of Transportation is also looking into the circumstances surrounding Kokito’s death, an agency spokesman said Wednesday.
The department “is in contact with the US Department of Agriculture, the agency that enforces the Animal Welfare Act and handles complaints about alleged animal mistreatment,” the spokesman said.
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