Pet dog dies while being transferred to an aircraft at Changi Airport on Sept.2. The owner claims that the airline was negligent.The owner took to Facebook to express her grief and tell her side of the story.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) confirmed the incident saying that a four-year-and-seven-month-old American cocker spaniel named Charlie belonged to passengers who had traveled on flight SQ184 from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City.
The owner, Shabana Mary Kuruvilla was relocating to Vietnam with her family, Their decision was to take their dog along with them, which is why they resorted to flying the dog out with them on the same flight.
''Since pets are taken on as excess baggage we had bought close to 220 kgs of excess baggage in addition to our allowance including Charlie and his crate which weighed around 22 kgs in total'' said Kuruvilla in her Facebook post.
SIA's pet policy on its website states that pets, with the exception of medically certified service dogs, are not permitted to travel in aircraft cabins. Cats and certain breeds of dogs are allowed as checked baggages.
On arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam the owner was informed by SIA staff that her dog Charlie had died in Singapore, despite an announcement by the pilot that Charlie was on board.
''We boarded the aircraft and while on board the Captain made an announcement that we had a pet on board the aircraft. We knew Charlie had boarded from the announcement'' said Kuruvilla.
It is being speculated that the dog might have suffered a heart attack due to the stress.
Shabana informed that the staff had informed her before boarding her flight that her dog was anxious and had some mucus and further queried if she desired to take a look at him. She decided against it, as she did not want to agitate the dog further. She was not given the precise details about the extent of her dog's distress.
The incident is under investigation, Kuruvilla has also filed a police complaint.
