DOG DIES FROM OVERHEATING ON ALASKA AIRLINES FLIGHT
A family has been left devastated after their beloved dog died from heat exhaustion on an Alaska Airlines flight.
Angie and Gary Englegau are heartbroken over the death of their four-year-old French bulldog Frank.
The couple were relocating from Hawaii to Portland, Oregon on June 30 when the tragedy struck.
'Life will not be the same without him,' Angie wrote in a heart wrenching post on Facebook.
The family were travelling with Frank's sister Charlie and their other dog Fawn, with outside temperatures in the 80s.
They claim that when they arrived at Honolulu International Airport there was minimal opportunity for the dogs to be removed from their carriers due to the airport's policy.
As they were sitting at their gate they noticed Frank beginning to pant, but were reportedly told he could not be let out.
Once onboard the flight, their request to remove Frank was once again denied.
The Englegaus say they then asked for ice cubes three times in a desperate attempt to cool down their dog.
But by the time it arrived Frank had sadly passed.
'When I was trying to get him out, I tried shaking him. He wasn't moving,' Gary told KGW.
'I pulled him out of the carrier, and his eyes were open. His tongue was hanging out a little bit, and he wasn't moving or breathing. That was it.'
The distraught couple were then forced to carry their dog's limp body for the remaining five and a half hour flight.
'We had to hold our poor baby's lifeless body because they would not let him out of that kennel, when you could clearly hear he was in distress,' Angie added.
Alaska Airlines requires pets to be kept in their carriers for taxi, take off and landing.
But the couple say this policy contributed to Frank's suffering and have blamed the airline and Honolulu International Airport for Frank's death.
'The truth is, he was murdered! He was murdered by Honolulu International Airport and by Alaska Airlines,' Angie fumed.
''Hawaii is not dog friendly. You are not allowed to have them out of the carrier at all in the airport — except in the pet relief area.'
The couple are now pushing for changes to the rules around pet transportation.
'We want some sort of change from the airlines,' Angie said. 'I want to find whoever I need to find, to create a law that allows dogs to have a chance to live when traveling.'
Any change will be too late for the Englegaus, who paid tribute to their, 'sweet, goofy and loving boy'.
They also shared concerns for Frank's surviving sister, Charlie, who suffers from separation anxiety when away from her brother.
'Charlie will not be the same without him,' Angie said. ' She has barely eaten anything and we are so worried about her.
'We just hope that given some time she will snap back to her normal devilish self. She will always have a part of her missing though.
'We were so incredibly lucky to have had Frank in our family for four years, it just isn't enough and it is unfair that he's not with us now.'
'We take the care of pets flying with us seriously and we're saddened by the reported loss of this guest's pet,' An Alaska Airlines spokesman said.
'Our crew members followed their processes as it relates to pets on board aircraft and took extra care of the guests for the duration of the flight.'
The Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Hawaii does not clearly state its policy on dogs being outside of their carriers, but a spokesman said it would, 'not restrict access for this particular request'.
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