Woman offered £1,400 by airline for losing her dog during journey
A woman was offered £1,400 by an airline after it lost her dog.
Paula Rodriguez booked a flight to San Francisco from the Dominican Republic, travelling with her dog Maia.
But what was supposed to be a two-week-long holiday turned into a nightmare when she arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and was told her pet didn't meet the tourist visa requirements.
Border control told Paula that Maia would have to be held in a detention centre until she could be put on a flight home, which wasn't until the following day.
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According to reports, Delta promised to look after Maia until she was deported, and Paula was told by a Delta agent that she'd be reunited with the six-year-old when she returned to the Dominican Republic.
Unfortunately, however, that never happened.
Speaking to 7NEWS, Paula said: "I started asking questions about where she'd be spending the night, and told him that she'd been in a lot of distress on the flight."
"When we’d got there (to Atlanta) she’d puked with distress and had diarrhoea. He [the agent] told me not to worry, that she’d be taken to a facility with staff trained for that."
Paula was out on a flight back to Punta Canta, which is over two hours away from Santo Domingo airport, where they had originally flown from.
While she waited there for Maia, her mother went to Santo Domingo in case she landed there instead. But she didn't.
And despite efforts from airport staff to track her down, Maia has not been seen for two weeks.
Delta Airlines later reached out to Paula, offering her £1,400 following the incident, which her lawyer called an 'insult'.
A GoFundMe has since been set up, with her family 'taking matters into our own hands' to track Maia down.
It reads: "This horrific situation has left my sister sleepless, with constant panic attacks and no appetite. I do not want her to get worse.
"That is why we have resorted to the thousands of people who have showed us their support since the story came out in the news.
"Maia and Paula need hope, we all do. Hope that they will be together again."
Delta has since come out and said the £1,400 was not an offer of compensation, and that they 'have shown sympathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer'.
The statement read: "Delta people have shown empathy through many actions, gestures and communications with our customer. That continues.
"As this matter is being handled by attorneys representing the customer and Delta, we will point out that what our customer is sharing is one portion of an initial conversation between attorneys and not reflective of an offer of compensation.
"Delta remains heartbroken for what this customer is going through but will refrain from making further comment on this matter."
Dominic Smithers