BOSTON (WHDH) - A family is outraged after their 9-month-old dog allegedly died after being flown to back to Boston, and is looking for answers from the airline.
Andreea Suvaina said her family bought Roger, a French Bulldog, over the winter and picked him up in Europe earlier this summer. Roger quickly bonded with Suvaina’s 6-year-old son, she said.
“He was a very healthy, happy dog,” Suvaina said. “[He] was my son’s best friend, he’s always asking about him.”
When it was time for the family to head back to Boston, their airline wouldn’t let Roger fly with Suvaina’s husband. So the family found an agency that arranges pet transportation that later sent Roger through Amsterdam.
But when Suvaina’s mother went to Logan Airport to pick up Roger, something was wrong.
“After an hour somebody … let my mother know Roger didn’t make it,” Suvaina said.
The dog’s body was taken to Angell Animal Medical Center, where doctors said they suspect Roger died of respiratory distress and heat stroke.
The temperature in Amsterdam soared to 100 degrees the day Roger passed through.
“The results say the dog was left with no water and was left in the heat,” Suvaina said. “We want to know what is going on, we trusted them, it’s a big company.”
7NEWS has reached out to the airline for comment but has not yet heard back.
The airline’s pet policy says they do not transport French bulldogs at all, because high temperatures and stress can result in breathing problems for the animals.
Suvaina’s lawyer said federal authorities are also investigating, and he wants the airline to own up to what happened.
“Pets today are family members and [the airline] needs to understand they have to treat these animals with respect and dignity,” Evan Oshan said.
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