A leukemia patient who was flying from Dubai to Washington, DC, for treatment claims her two French bulldogs died in the jet’s cargo hold after Emirates airline refused to let them fly in the cabin.
The woman, identified only as Hannah by TMZ, said one dog, Panda, was her emotional support animal. The other, Beluga, was Panda’s companion.
Both died on the Aug. 21 flight to Dulles International Airport after the airline forced her to pay $2,600 to ship the pooches. Hannah was told the dogs couldn’t fly in the cabin because they weighed more than 8 pounds, even though she had a doctor’s letter classifying Panda as an emotional support animal.
Airlines are supposed to transport live animals in a specially designed hold, not the luggage compartment. An autopsy found the dogs died from oxygen deprivation. Panda was also bloody.”Dogs are not luggage,” said attorney Evan Oshan. “they are living breathing family members and in this case, provided tremendous emotional support for a cancer patient.”
He added, “Emirates charged for the dogs’ passage even though medical documentation was provided by this cancer patient. This is wrong!”
He claims other animals on the flight all survived the journey.
Emirates’ website did not respond to requests for comment. Its website states guide dogs for the blind may travel free of charge in the aircraft cabin, but that “all other service dogs will be accepted for travel free of charge as manifested cargo, provided that the passenger provides credible evidence that the animal is a service dog.”
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