Pasadena Family Wants Airline To Answer For Puppy's Death

PASADENA, CA — A Pasadena family whose puppy died in the cargo hold of a KLM jet last week during a flight from Europe to Los Angeles, is demanding answers today.

Their dog Bear, a a five-month-old purebred Central Asian Shepherd, was dead when the flight landed at LAX Tuesday. The pup did not survive the last leg of its journey from Greece, a flight from Amsterdam to Los Angeles International Airport. Bear was intended as a gift to the Avetisian family in Pasadena, ABC7 reported.

Family friends in Athens had gifted him to the Avetisian children, Alex and Ani, who had been getting regular updates with pictures and videos.

``We were waiting for months to get that puppy, and give him some love, my kids were waiting," said the children's father Andranik Avetisian. "I don't know. It is very difficult. It is very hard for me."

The devastate family said they've been frustrated by KLM's lack of answers.The family said they have been unable to view the dog's body, retrieve it or even find out where it is now.

KLM said the dog's body was initially examined to ensure there was no public health threat, and the airline issued a statement that said, in part:

``We take matters of animal welfare very seriously. KLM's Cargo Department is in contact with the owner of the dog, and for reasons of customer confidentiality, we cannot release further details around the current investigation."

As news broke of another pet death in an airplane cargo hold, airline officials denied reports that they mishandled the animal. According to TMZ, which first broke the story, an Air France employee claimed the dog was incorrectly loaded in the cargo hold and lost oxygen during the transatlantic flight.

In a statement issued last week, the airline said, "The dog was loaded correctly according to KLM's pet policy....The dog's owner has been notified, and we express our condolences."

According to the Daily Mail, the airline's policy requires all cats and dogs weighing between 17 and 165 pounds to travel in the cargo hold confined to hard-plastic or fiberglass containers.

Avetisian's lawyer, Evan Oshan, said he may seek action from the Airport Police and the district attorney.

It's the latest sad tale of an airline pet death to garner headlines in recent months. In June, an 8-year-old Pomeranian died during a layover on a Delta flight from Phoenix to Newark. The little pup was also being held in a cargo-hold cage, and it was discovered with vomit and fluids in the cage, CNN reported. Its owners filed a lawsuit against the airline.

Last March, a french bulldog puppy died in the overhead container of a United Airlines flight after an airline attendant reportedly placed the dog in an overhead luggage bin without realizing there was an animal in the container. The incident stirred national outrage, and prompted a bill to make it illegal to put animals in overhead bins.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.