The 2018 United Airlines Dog Death refers to an incident where a United Airlines flight attendant demanded a dog be put in an overhead compartment, leading to the dog's death. The incident occurred nearly a year since the passenger removal controversy.

On March 12th, 2018, a 10-month old French bulldog died while aboard a United Airlines flight. According to reports, the dog was placed in the overhead compartment for the three hour flight from Houston, Texas to New York City, New York.

The following, fellow passenger June Laura posted several pictures of the dog and a description of the incident on Facebook ^[5] (description below). The post received more than 360,000 reactions, 91,000 comments and 276,000 shares in one week.

"I sat behind the family of three and thought myself lucky – who doesn't when they get to sit near a puppy? However, the flight attendants of flight UA1284 felt that the innocent animal was better off crammed inside the overhead container without air and water. They INSISTED that the puppy be locked up for three hours without any kind of airflow. They assured the safety of the family's pet so wearily, the mother agreed.

There was no sound as we landed and opened his kennel. There was no movement as his family called his name. I held her baby as the mother attempted to resuscitate their 10 month old puppy. I cried with them three minutes later as she sobbed over his lifeless body. My heart broke with theirs as I realized he was gone."

On March 13th, fellow passenger Maggie Gremminger posted a protected tweet of a photograph of the family (shown below) with the caption "I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of an @united flight attendant. My heart is broken."^[1]

United's Statement

On March 13th, United commented on the incident on the website The Points Guy.^[6] They said:

"This was a tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin. We assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them. We are thoroughly investigating what occurred to prevent this from ever happening again."

Senator John Kennedy's "Pets Are Family" Tweet

On March 14th, Senator John Kennedy tweeted^[7] that he would introducing a bill prohibiting the placement of animals in overhead compartments. He wrote, "I will be filing a bill tomorrow that will prohibit airlines from putting animals in overhead bins. Violators will face significant fines. Pets are family." Within two days, the tweet (shown below) received more than 10,000 retweets, 59,000 likes and 11,000 comments in two days.

People reacted negatively to the tweet, accusing the senator of prioritizing the safety of animals over people, considering the tweet came on the same day as the National School Walkout in protest of gun violence in the United States. Twitter^[8] user @TWA2Jenny tweeted,^[8] How about we ban assault weapons first. 7,000 children dead since Newtown.

That day, Twitter^[9] user @wxdam tweeted, "17 people die in a high school and a month later there's a nationwide protest to get the attention of lawmakers. One dog dies on an airplane and there's a bill in the Senate rectifying it within 48 hours." The post (shown below, center) received more than 146,000 retweets and 318,000 likes.

Twitter^[10] user @ToddD329 tweeted, "So Senator let’s see if I understand here. One pet is put in a overhead and dies and you’re ready to file legislation to ban it. But when mad men are killing people ,including children in our schools with weapons of war, you’re happy with just thoughts and prayers?" The post (shown below, right) received more than 450 retweets and 2,300 likes in 24 two days.

Media Coverage

The incident was covered by several media outlets, including NPR, The New York Daily News,^[2] ABC,^[3] The Los Angeles Times^[4] and more.