Airport Baggage Handler Fired For Refusing to Load ‘Emaciated’ and ‘Bloody’ Dog On Plane
- Posted on December 5, 2011 at 2:28pm by
Buck Sexton
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She helped a canine in distress, and got fired for her troubles.
That’s the claim a Nevada woman has made, stating she has been fired from her baggage handling job because she refused to load an “emaciated” dog that showed obvious signs of abuse and neglect.
Lynn Jones, an employee of contractor Airport Terminal Services before her termination, said she wouldn’t put the dog on the plane ride to Texas because “its paws were bloody and its body was covered with sores,” according to Fox News.
Her supervisor allegedly told her that the dog‘s papers were in order and it’s condition was none of her concern.
Jones disagreed, and Fox reported her as saying:
“Everybody who saw it, the TSA people, the airport police officers, the girls at the ticket counter, was concerned. The dog was so weak and torn up. It didn’t look like it could survive the flight. I was crying. I kept saying that dog could not be put on a plane.”
When she called Washoe County Regional Animal Services, they prevented the dog from being shipped on the flight and took it into custody. The owner– a hunter who travels everywhere with the dog– apparently took the dog back and nursed it to health before its eventual transport to Texas.
But for her intervention on behalf of the suffering dog, Jones was allegedly fired on the spot on Nov. 15.
“(My supervisor) kept yelling, she said `That’s it, you’re done, you are out of here, go home.’
Krys Bart, CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said she was out of town when the incident occurred, but stated that the abuse occurred prior to arriving at the airport. Bart also claimed she was proud of the actions of the officers who took the dog into custody.
County animal services officials declined to comment on Jones’s firing, citing a new state law that keeps details of animal abuse cases secret.
Jones has suffered after losing the job she held for five years, but stands firmly behind her decision. She has no regrets.
“I just couldn’t turn my back on that dog,” she said. “My supervisor said it wasn’t my concern, but animal abuse is everyone’s concern who sees it.”
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Comments (58)
CS_GUY
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 4:25pmOnce again, the wrong person lost their job……….idiot Supervisor.
Nothing worse on a job than an arrogant and pridefull boss.
How about it SouthWest? Give this worker a job and make the headlines?
Report Post »MrObvious
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:29pmdito
Report Post »DirtyDeeds
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:28pmGood for her, standing up and protecting this animal. Flying especially for animals can be a stressful ordeal. I am not sure why the article says he was a hunter…but, if this was his hunting companion on this trip he should be ashamed. I take my dogs with me on extended outdoor backpacking adventures. I carry enough food for the both of them, ensure they drink often then before bedding down I examine them to ensure they are healthy.
Report Post »mamabearCali
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:24pmThis poor woman. I don’t know how the dog got that way or why it was being transported in the condition it was in. Perhaps there is a good explanation for it. However, it was right for the woman to ask for that explanation. Her boss is why flying these days is such a nightmare. Fire anyone who dares to think/show common sense and keep the drones. Heaven help us all.
Report Post »Anamah
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:26pmShe did what was moral … This lady deserves gratitude at least and her job back.
Report Post »momsense
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:39pmLady–you’ve got more class than everyone concerned.
Report Post »pavepaws
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:46pmShe would be an asset to any company.
Report Post »Chappy123
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:04pmAmen! God Bless Ms. Jones. God has something much better in store for you.
The Supervisor is a POS,
Report Post »Niferno
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:05pmGOOD FOR YOU, LYNN! My only sadness at her getting fired is that she won’t be there to catch it if it happens again. Hopefully, she made enough of an impact that someone else will step in if it happens again. This is the problem with BUREAUCRACY, those farthest from the problem care the least.
Report Post »JQCitizen
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:33pmCould not have said it better! Since when does someone care MORE about LOCAL ISSUES than LOCAL PEOPLE! This woman is to be commended, and I hope someone in her area will reward her ETHICAL behavior with a job, POST-HAST!!!
Report Post »Uechi
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:04amGeorgie Patton please spare us the moronic BS. No caring person puts an emaciated injured dog on an airplane. Lots of vets available. You don’t have to be in residence to have a dog cared for. Once the dog is well it can be put on an airplane. From the standpoint of the dog‘s condition it doesn’t matter whether he was injured accidently or by abuse you don’t ship the dog in that condition. If the dog was in fact abused I hope the owner winds up in jail
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:05pmPLEASE! Baggage handlers are union. The union will move this person to another location / job (probably the defense industry… BAE looks like it could use another conscientious worker) and it will all be forgotten.
Report Post »Supernal
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:41pmWould you feel the same way if you found out the guy was trying to bring home a lost and injured pet? Maybe the dog got lost on a camping trip or hunting trip and wasn’t found until a few weeks later. And maybe the owner had searched heaven and earth for his dog, finally found it, and was trying to get it home the quickest way he could?
Report Post »MrObvious
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:34pm@Supnl – That argument doesn’t wash. If the dog’s in the kind of condition this one was, it wouldn’t have survived the flight. I would imagine a responsible pet owner, of the type you described, would be wanting to thank the handler that prevented such a tragedy.
Report Post »BetsyRoss1513
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:43amSeems to me that when this worker files her unemployment claim, the airline is going to be hard pressed to deny it, inasmuch as she was following the law.
Report Post »In how many other situations would a person be arrested and prosecuted for ignoring a scenario like this one?
George Patton
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:34amWhy does Lynn and seemingly everyone assume the owner abused the dog, and Lynn was heroic in her actions against the evil owner? Perhaps the owner loved his dog, and the dog got hurt while hunting, and the owner was flying home where he could nurse the dog back to health. Lynn acted from a position of pure emotion and assumption. She could very well have prevented the dog from getting the attention it needed, from its owner, by her “heroic” act.
Report Post »mllyjul
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:46amAnd “george patton” perhaps you are dumber than a box of rocks. There are no vets in Tahoe? It had to be flown thousands of miles away to be nursed back to health?
Report Post »Susie
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:58amGeorge Patton – You’re right. What a heartless dog; upsetting everyone like that. That dog should have known better than to make its owner look so bad. Shame ! Bad dog !
Report Post »George Patton
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 9:20am@millyjul So you are on a hunting trip hundreds of miles away from home and the trip is over and on monday you have to go back to work but your dog is injured…..so you would stay where you are for another week or so and nurse the dog back to health? I bet your boss would understand and not fire you.
@Susie Nowhere did I claim the dog was at fault. Be a little intellectually honest. I am simply stating that lynn and people (apperently like you) are jumping to conclusions that the dog owner abused the dog and we have no evidence of that.
Report Post »Yes a ConsvNY Mother
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 9:32amIf that were the case why not tape a note to the crate explaining that the dog got hurt and may bleed from injuies sustained while on a hunting trip (indicating the dog may be biting at bandages put in place which may create more blood and that it looks worse than it seems, etc.) and that the owner was aware and has done everything in their power to make the dog comfortable for their journey home. Any dog lover would have made a concerted effort to make sure their hunting pal was sedated and comforted if there were injuries sustained….just saying…
Report Post »George Patton
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:10am@conservmom Perhaps he did make arrangements with the airline. He doesn’t need to leave a note for the baggage handler. He doesn’t need to explain to every bleeding heart why his dog is hurt.
I have worked with a local dog rescue shelter and fostered many dogs. Not every dog that is hurt is the product of abuse.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:30pmGeorge, You are such a dumb@55 that it isn’t funny! Do you not think that there are veteranarians all over this country that could arrange shipment of an animal after it has been treated and recovered? The owner could have left the dog with the vet, gone back to work, and then picked up the dog from the airport in a week when it arrived after it was given proper care. Seeing as how this hunter was FLYING to his hunting destination I would suppose that he has money and could afford to have the vet treat the animal. I can also assume by the fact that he flies to his hunting destination that he is merely a tropy hunter (unless this was also a social family visit) and most trophy hunters don’t give two licks about their hunting dogs. In fact, they bred hunting dogs like pointers to be thin, submissive, and they keep them nearly to the point of starvation so that they have more “will” to hunt. these facts lead me to believe that while the owner may not have legally abused the dog, he was not acting in the best interest of the dog’s health. Not even a rancher can send an animal on transport that isn’t healthy, even if the animal is to be slaughtered as soon as it reaches its’ destination.
Report Post »momsense
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:40pmBull!
Report Post »Supernal
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:04pmI agree with you, George. It’s also possible that the dog had already been to the vet and was cleared to fly. As someone else said, maybe it gnawed on it’s bandages, or tore some stitches out. The whole point is that we don’t have enough information to draw any conclusions about any of this. Maybe there was a note on the cage. We don’t know. Maybe the dog was flying home from the vet. We don’t know. Maybe the baggage handler has no business assessing the condition of a dog. Maybe this lady caused a delay that ending up causing the dog further harm. There are always two sides to a story.
Report Post »George Patton
Posted on December 7, 2011 at 8:11am@super Yes you are right, we just don’t know the whole story. That was my point, that people are jumping to conclusions with little info. So sgtb proves my point and jumps to the fantastical conclusion that because the man is a hunter he probably treats his dog badly, because everyone knows hunting dogs are bred to be emaciated…I mean wow…..this guys stupidity is astounding. Maybe he is actually clairvoyant and we are all wrong. But sgtb is a paul supporter and most paulbots I have run into are pretty ignorant and angry folks. We are all neocons….blah blah…you are the keeper of the constitution….blah blah….cocaine should be legal…blah blah…..bestiality is fine, that’s liberty man….blah blah. Message to paulbots: go start your own forum or join the huffington post…we really don’t want you here.
Report Post »nelbert
Posted on December 7, 2011 at 10:44amYou may be correct, but that still doesn’t excuse the firing of the employee who voiced concern.
As a side note, because of the negative press this generated, the company offered the woman her job back. And this second article does maintain that the dog was not in peak health but was in fact in distress.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20111206/NEWS/111206038/Update-Reno-air-cargo-worker-Lynn-Jones-offered-her-job-back-after-saving-dog
Report Post »collectorbob810
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:34amgood for you standing up for a dog. its not as if it was a pregnant woman walking into plan parenthood. so you just keep minding everyones business. our country needs more like you. long live obama destoryer of freedom, obama 2012 and beyond………
Report Post »Desert Dog
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:17amWe need more like this. Her employers should be proud of her, but noooooooooooooooo……….
Report Post »jharper
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:28amYet they defend strip searching 85 y.o. women and detaining a 17 y.o. because her clutch bag had a gun decoration on it.
Report Post »westfayetteville
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:14amFired for doing the right thing, this reminds me of that little girl in china getting hit by a car(s) and no one doing anything, how many people did that dog have to be cleared by and no one done nothing, than one person stands up and dose the right thing, and they get fired, at this rate people will be afraid to do the right thing and we will be like china.
Report Post »hammer71
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:47amThey should stuff the Supervisor into that crate and ship him/her to Clueless Jerk Island.
Report Post »Shellback
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:57amAnd the island is populated with ravenous grizzly bears and the surrounding waters are infested with piranahs with razor sharp teeth. I’m smiling just thinking about it.
Report Post »IslandMama
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:21amMost airlines have a policy against shipping dogs that are sick or ill. I am surprised they fired her for adhering to what is likely states on the airlines’ own Web site as a policy. I can tell you that I am shocked by this. We breed dogs and ship them all over the world. We have read the policies and strictly adhere to them – size of crate, etc. We would not ship an ill or injured animal. I am also surprised that a veterinarian would sign the needed papers for transporting the dog in that condition.
Report Post »yancie
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:17amThis sounds like a power Hungry b**CH ” “(My supervisor) kept yelling, she said `That’s it, you’re done, you are out of here, go home. Hey supervisor how bout someone beat you down then put you in cargo. The woman that got fired should come back and take the supervisors job, she is better at it just by this story.
Report Post »summitday113
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:47amWait… airlines ban healthy pregnant women from flying beyond a certain time, but can’t require that animals be in condition to survive the flight? It seems reasonable to ensure that a dog in this condition will survive a flight in the cargo hold. Let’s say the owner was trying to fly an injured dog home- and it died on the flight- these days the owner would probably sue the airline. This isn’t an extreme PETA action, it’s just common decency.
Report Post »ADNIL
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:08amThere is more to this story. Hunting dogs sometimes get lost. A lost dog out in the wilderness may be in very poor condition by the time,if ever, he is found. A lost beagle once appeared one winter in our shed in similar condition. It was heart wrenching. He looked like a very old dog near death, loaded with infected porcupine quills, emaciated, and partially frozen. With TLC, a visit to the vet, antibiotics, and a month sleeping behind the wood stove he eventually recovered and we found he was a young dog. We never did find the owners.
Would I have reacted differently from the baggage handler? Probably not. Should she have been fired? I can’t say. Reprimanded, perhaps. There is always more to the story.
Report Post »Americanmaiden
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:03amI was a flight attendant on National Airlines, TWA and Ryan Air. Please don’t fly your animals (especially cats) in the cargo hold of an airplane. It is extremely terrifying and uncomfortable for them.
Report Post »Americanmaiden
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 5:56amas an 18 year vetran of the neverending, animal rescue “wars”, I can say, unoquivically, that she fullfilled her moral duty and should be proud of herself for risking so much. I have a feeling someone will step in and give her a better job. She’s a hero in my eyes.
Report Post »Good Luck & God Bless You
country_hick
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:48amI want to know what the airline feels about this!
If they don‘t take a stand against the company I don’t want to fly that airline!
Report Post »dutchy
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 5:06amI totally agree, the airline must fire the supervisor who is obviously not doing her job correctly and checking that the papers on the animal are indeed for that individual animal. The owner of the dog should have received a large fine too!
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:29amThe lady didn’t work for an airline. She worked for a contractor. I suspect the airline has talked with the contract company because the airline is being pulled into the controversey.
Report Post »The Scarecrow
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:05amYou can’t tell me a guy is using a dog like that to hunt with. Sounds more like he’s using it as fighting dog bait. Girl shouldn’t have lost her job , she did the right thing trying to protect the dog. There’s no reason for the owner to get the dog back if it was in that kind of shape somebody else surely suspected something.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:11amThat was my first thought. It was a fighting dog, not a hunting dog. My grandpa hunted with dogs and they never came back bloody and emanciated. If it was actually a hunting dog, he doesn’t know how to train them. One of my grandpa’s whistled to get his dogs home, the other one had a cow horn that he blew to get them home.
Report Post »Hiswill
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:39amIt would take weeks or longer for a dog to become emaciated. I have friends with hunting dogs and they are all in tip top shape. I’ve never seen their dogs with open sores or emaciated. This hunter should not have gotten his dog back. The second thing I found disturbing in this article was the state law that says animal cruelty is kept secret. This only fuels the fire for abuse.
Report Post »Supernal
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:20pmAgain, we don’t know the whole story. It is entirely possible that the hunter lost his dog on an out of state hunt and the dog wasn’t found until weeks later, injured and nearing starvation. Seriously though, we can imagine all sorts of terrible situations surrounding this, but it is entirely pointless without getting all of the facts.
Report Post »Supernal
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:36pmLet me add this, anyone with any experience with hunting dogs knows that losing a dog is a very real risk. A dog can be injured and unable to respond to a call, or, especially in mountainous terrain, they can find themselves out of range of a radio call and certainly out of earshot. This is fairly common with cougar hunting dogs and coon dogs.
I still highly doubt that someone who is abusing an animal is going to go through the trouble to put that animal on a plane.
Report Post »NightWriter
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:03pmWe live out in the ‘sticks’ with hunting areas all around us. Once in awhile, a hunting dog will get separated from the owner. Many of these ‘hunters’ have little respect for the dogs – and really don’t search for them.
More than once, we’ve found a dog – starving and beat up from terrain/wild critters and elements, took it in nursed it, and found it a new home. (No owner ever answered the found dog ads we placed – nor inquired at the Animal Shelter)
That said – had an out of area owner claimed any of these dogs, there is no way I’d attempt to transport it, until it was healed and healthy.
The baggage handler did the right thing. Bless her and I hope she gets another (better) job.
Report Post »Supernal
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:01amWe don‘t know enough of the story to form any sort of conclusion about the dog or it’s owner. That being said, it is entirely possible that the owner was trying to bring home a lost and injured pet or hunting dog. I sincerely doubt that an abusive owner is going to take the time and go through the hassle of bringing a dog onto an airplane.
Report Post »chinqua
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:26amOnly 3 posts on this? There should be outrage over this woman’s firing. Her BOSS needs to be fired!!!
Report Post »When someone stands-up for a helpless animal they should never be punished. Where is the shame?
The local animal (welfare ?) officials should notify the officials where this animal was shipped for a follow-up from their authorities. Does anyone do the right thing, anymore?
Americanmaiden
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:27amIt’s early. Give them time.
Report Post »Wish we had some pictures of the dog. That would do it. I’m wondering if the dog was really used for dog fighting. I wasn’t aware that hunting dogs get hurt so badly unless they are hunting boar or larger game than pheasants and ducks.
grayling646
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:20amDid Nurse Rachet get a new job?
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:44amI don’t understand them giving the dog back to the owner,,,,,,WHY???
Report Post »The Girl should not lose her job, some one should give her a medal…
Airport people have just gone crazy it seems. No one should be allowed
to put a “sick” or bleeding dog on a plane.
db321
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:38amShe is correct, an animal in that condition had no business being allowed on a plain. I’m not a big supporter of PETA but I hope heads roll at that Airport and the person responsible for putting that dog in that condition is prosecuted.
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