A dog was abandoned at an Iowa airport after its owner was told that the female puppy couldn’t be taken on the flight because they didn’t have the right type of kennel.
The dog was discovered tied up outside the Des Moines airport on 29 December after her owner couldn’t get on a flight with her.
The CEO of Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa, Tom Colvin, told NBC’s Today that the rescue centre was called to the area by airport staff after the owner “tried to go through the flight process without the proper kennel”.
Mr Colvin told NBC that the owner attempted to get on the flight, was rejected, and later returned and boarded the plane without the dog.
Mr Colvin thinks “it wasn’t very long” that the dog, who the centre has named Allie, was tied up outside the airport. He noted that the weather “was a lot better than it was a few days prior... during the sub-zero wind chills”.
Allie has been taken in by the centre and isn’t up for adoption as the investigation remains ongoing. The one-year-old dog has seemed upbeat despite the ordeal.
Mr Colvin said the dog is “very friendly and loved everybody from the airport staff that came out, brought her a blanket, stayed with her, loved her, giving her all the attention until our animal services officers came out and picked her up. She’s very sweet”.
He added that “it certainly doesn’t look likely” that she’ll be reclaimed after the investigation. When the probe has concluded, she’ll be up for adoption.
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Bigsen Charles, 24, is accused of tying up his dog named Stella outside the Des Moines International Airport and jumping on a plane to Newark, New Jersey, by himself on 29 December after the seven-month-old pup was barred from the flight.
Mr Charles claimed he had paid for Stella to travel with him but didn’t realise she would need to be in a kennel to do so.
“I already checked in and didn’t want to miss my flight,” he told the Daily Mail. “I thought if I paid for the dog on the plane they would give her a kennel. I didn’t know I had to bring my own.”
Mr Charles said he’d tried to come up with a better solution - asking for the driver who brought him to the airport to pick Stella up and for airport staff to allow her to stay inside. When neither option worked, he said he tied Stella up outside in hopes that one of his friends could come get her, but he was unable to get through to anyone.
Eventually, Stella was found outside by airport staff who contacted the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa. An animal control officer was sent to retrieve the puppy as authorities launched an investigation.
Mr Charles insisted that he did not intend to hurt the dog he bought for his daughter in July.
“I was crying when I left her because I didn’t want to leave her,” he said. “I knew someone would end up taking her.”
The animal control officer who retrieved Stella from the airport, Tina Updegrove, said Mr Charles admitted to her that he knows what he did was wrong.
Ms Updegrove said she spent days trying to contact Stella’s owner after taking her back to the shelter.
“During the drive from the airport to the shelter, she warmed up to me,” she said of the pooch, who was named Allie by the shelter. “Her tail was wagging and she was smiling. She is quite fantastic. Such a sweetheart.”
Stella will now be put up for adoption, with Mr Charles’ permission, Ms Updegrove said.
“He verbally relinquished Stella. I told him the dog is doing well and happy and he gave me permission to find the dog a new home,” she said.
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Owner charged with animal neglect for abandoning dog at Iowa airport says he ‘knew someone would take her’
Bigsen Charles tied up his dog named Stella outside the Des Moines airport after being told he needed a kennel to get on his flight
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