Model Maggie Rizer took all the possible precautions to ensure that her dogs would fly safely on a United Airlines flight. So she was shocked and upset when she was told that her two-year-old golden retriever Bea died when she went to pick him up. Rizer is accusing United Airlines of killing her beloved dog.
Rizer took to her blog to share her tragic story on Thursday.
She was flying with her husband Alex Mehran, her 10-month old son Zander and her two golden retrievers on a United Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco earlier this month. Four days before the flight, Rizer took her dogs to the vet for a health check as required by United's Pet Safe program. Her dog Beatrice was perfectly healthy.
Rizer ensured that her dog's kennels were labeled with flight and contact information. The kennels were specifically bought to follow the guidelines of the Pet Safe program. She purchased extra food and filled special water bowls with ice so that the water wouldn't spill and would last longer. The family drove from their house in upstate New York to New York city so their pets wouldn't have to go through the stress of a connecting flight. Rizer even paid United an extra $1,800 to ensure that her pets would be safe.
Rizer's dogs Albert and Beatrice were well prepared for the flight, so she was shocked when she received terrible news upon landing. When she went to the cargo terminal to pick up her pets, she was "told simply, "one of them is dead" by the emotionless worker who seemed more interested in his text messages."
United Airlines told Rizer that they sent her dog for a necropsy to a local vet. Rizer demanded that she have her dog back so that she could bring her to their own vet for the necropsy. It turned out that United had lied. Bea's body was still in the terminal and they were just trying to stall as they figured out a way to handle the liability of the issue.
Rizer took Bea to the vet and was told that her dog died of a heatstroke. Rizer says that United still hasn't given them an explanation for what happened. All she was told was that "our internal investigation does not show any irregularities, as evidenced by the fact that your companion dog and other animals on board did not suffer the same fate".
Rizer says that the airlines wouldn't give her any information and that they even called her vet saying that Rizer had authorized for them to obtain the results of the necropsy. This wasn't true. She told the airline that she would release the results at her discretion.
It seems that the family has no intentions of suing the airline. They just want to get the story out there so that other pet owners might reconsider flying with United.
"I am not writing this to start a lawsuit or to get anyone to stop flying United. I am writing this to help make people aware that airlines are incapable of ensuring the safety of our pets. All it takes is for one employee to not follow the proper procedure and then like me, your dog is dead," she wrote on her blog.
United Airlines issued a statement saying :
"We understand that the loss of a beloved pet is difficult and our condolences to Ms. Rizer and her family for their loss. After careful review," United continued, "we found there were no mechanical or operational issues with Bea's flight and also determined she was in a temperature-controlled environment for her entire journey. We would like to finalize the review but are unable until we receive a copy of the necropsy."
The only compensation that Rizer has received was a refund for the $1,800 fee that she paid to transport her dogs and the airline covered the cost of the necropsy.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
