A United Airlines mistake apparently sent a U.S. family’s German shepherd to Japan instead of to their new home in Kansas.
The family, who was moving from Oregon to Wichita, Kansas, paid for their German shepherd Irgo to fly to Wichita as cargo. When they went to the cargo center at the Kansas City airport, however, they found a Great Dane instead of Irgo, KCTV5 News reported.
The Great Dane, which was supposed to be on its way to Japana, was in a carrier that reportedly looked similar to Irgo’s.
United Airlines later said in a statement that Irgo had been located and was on his way back to his family in Wichita, KCTV5 reported.
“An error occurred during connections in Denver for two pets sent to the wrong destinations,” a statement from United said, the Post reported. “We have notified our customers that their pets have arrived safely and will arrange to return the pets to them as soon as possible.”
United also apologized for the mistake and said it would follow up with the overnight vendor kennels to see what had happened.
Kara Swindle said she cried a lot during her ordeal of waiting to find out whether Irgo was safe.
“At this point, all I can do is be hopeful that my dog is going to be OK and return safely,” Swindle told KCTV. The pet may have to be quarantined upon its return because of traveling on an international flight, CBS News reported.
United Airlines was already under fire for an incident earlier in the week when a puppy died on a United flight after its owner was told to put its carrier with the puppy inside in the overhead bin during the three-hour flight.
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