LAS VEGAS — A woman who did not have the correct paperwork for her dog to fly out of the Las Vegas airport is accused of abandoning the goldendoodle at the ticket counter and is facing charges.
The alleged incident was caught on video.
Police said they were called to Harry Reid International Airport on Feb. 2 just before 11:40 p.m. They were told that a dog had been left behind at a JetBlue ticket counter, NBC News reported.
The woman had walked to the counter with the dog running behind her, but she eventually walked away, without the animal, whose leash was tied to the counter.
Police said she did not have paperwork allowing the dog to travel as a service dog and was denied a boarding pass. She went to her gate anyway, and that’s where police said they found her.
That part of the incident was recorded on body cameras and shared by the police on Facebook.
Officers told her she would get a citation.
“Well, I was trying to rebook my flight,” the woman claimed.
“So you walked out here to rebook your flight?” the officer asked her.
“Yeah, that’s what they told me at the counter,” she said.
“To walk out here without your dog?” the officer countered.
She said the dog had a tracker, “implying it was acceptable to leave the animal behind and it would return to her.”
Police said she became hostile and resisted, so she was taken back through security.
Officers said the woman was charged with animal abandonment and resisting arrest.
The dog was taken care of by airport staff until animal protective services arrived.
The woman did not retrieve the dog within 10 days, so it was taken to Retriever Rescue of Las Vegas and placed into foster care.
The sad story may come to a happy ending, however.
The dog, which is nicknamed Jet Blue, had more than 2,400 applications for adoption submitted from all over the world, KVVU reported.
“After many thoughtful discussions about JetBlue’s specific needs, the life he deserves, and what would be best for him long-term, one truth kept rising to the top: from the very first moment he met him, there was someone who loved this dog fiercely,” the rescue said in a statement.
One of the officers checked on JetBlue to make sure he was safe and how to help. The officer’s wife checked in every day during the 10-day hold.
His family had a pre-approved application with the rescue already, so the officer was the one chosen for JetBlue’s forever home, KVVU reported.
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