A woman was arrested after allegedly abandoning her dog at a Las Vegas airport when airline staff told her the animal was not allowed to board her flight.
The incident unfolded at Harry Reid International Airport after the woman arrived with her goldendoodle and attempted to fly without the required documentation. According to police, she was informed that the dog could not travel because it was not a registered service animal.
Rather than leaving the airport with the dog, authorities say the woman tied the animal to a JetBlue ticket counter and walked away toward the departure gate.
“Airline staff advised the dog’s owner she was required to complete online documentation in order to travel with the animal as a service dog,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. “When the required paperwork was not completed, the passenger was denied a boarding pass. She then left the dog behind and proceeded through the airport to the departure gate.”
Officers later located the woman at Gate D1. When questioned about abandoning the dog, police say she claimed the airline would not allow the animal to fly and bizarrely suggested the dog had a tracking device, implying it would somehow make its way back to her.
Police said the situation escalated when the woman became hostile and resisted officers as they attempted to detain her. She was arrested and charged with animal abandonment and resisting arrest.
The dog was taken into the care of Animal Protective Services and placed on a mandatory 10 day hold. Authorities say the woman never made any attempt to reclaim the animal.
Now free from its former owner, the goldendoodle has been given a new name.
“The dog now affectionately named ‘Jet Blue’ is safe, in foster care, and will soon be placed in a new loving home,” police said.
The case has sparked outrage online, with many expressing disbelief that someone would abandon a pet in a busy airport simply to catch a flight.
