Seattle dog owner claims pet died on Hawaiian Airlines flight, unclear how or why – KIRO 7 News Seattle

A Seattle dog owner claims his two-year-old pit bull died while flying on Hawaiian Airlines, but he still has no idea how or why.

Randall Carpio, a naturopathic doctor, flew from Hawaii to Seattle with his pit bull Louis. Carpio said Louis was about to become an emotional support animal for his patients. Carpio called Louis “one in a million”.

Louis was also described as “Isabella Lilac,” which Carpio’s attorney Evan Oshan described as a very rare breed. According to Oshan, Louis’ grandfather was sold to a buyer in Taiwan for $ 750,000.

Carpio said he was waiting for his dog to fly in from Hawaii but received a text message from his father informing him that Louis had died. (Carpio’s father was the original consignor of Hawaiian Airlines; Carpio was a consignee.) Carpio then called Hawaiian Airlines. Caprio claims a representative asked his permission to perform an autopsy (an autopsy of an animal).

“They described that (Louis) had died and that they were going to send his body for an autopsy,” Carpio said. “They emailed me a document confirming that I mentioned it was okay that I cleared the autopsy to see what happened to my dog. After that, I didn’t hear from them until the Monday after that. So I called a couple of times a few days later and asked what had happened, but (received) no real, definitive evidence that my dog ​​had died. “

“We have no report. We don’t have any photos. We have absolutely nothing, just the airline foreign word that says an autopsy was done and that’s it, ”said Oshan, an attorney who represents Carpio.

Carpio said Louis was cremated shortly afterwards and was told he would receive Louis’ ashes in the mail. Carpio said the remains had been sent to his place of work, but he was not there when the delivery came. Since a signature was required for delivery, Louis is currently sitting in an Everett shipping facility, according to Carpio.

“It’s in a very small can that goes in a pocket, similar to a Crown Royal bag, as (the representative) explained to me,” said Carpio.

Oshan, who has represented dog owners in various lawsuits against various airlines, said the distinctive feature of this case was that it was difficult to find out what exactly happened.

“It’s very irregular. When an autopsy is performed, this is a very detailed procedure. Organs are removed, weighed. There is much to do. Just to say an autopsy was done, and then a box of I don’t know what? It’s highly unacceptable, ”he said.

Hawaiian Airlines did not respond to KIRO 7’s request for comment.

According to Oshan, the airline responded to TMZ, claiming it presented the autopsy report to Randall. Oshan denies this claim.

Airlines are required by law to report animal deaths and injuries to the US Department of Transportation. The data is published monthly in the agency’s Air Travel Consumer Report. The latest report shows animal deaths by May. In 2021, three animal deaths from air travel have been reported, with all deaths occurring in May. No one flew with Hawaiian Airlines.

On its website, Hawaiian Airlines advises customers against taking brachycephalic (short-nosed) animals as checked baggage “because of the difficulty breathing an animal can experience in transit and in Hawaii’s tropical climate.”

Carpio said: “Nobody recommended me to send the 2 year old pit bull”.

Carpio and Oshan are not filing a lawsuit for the time being. Both claim that they are trying to find out what happened to Louis.

“If I saw definitive evidence that he died, if they showed me photographic evidence that they were doing an autopsy, I would feel less sad and hurtful and lied to,” Carpio said.

“I think we’ll definitely get to the bottom of things. I think we’ll find the bigger story. And when that bigger story comes out, hopefully it will be a wake-up call for Hawaiian Airlines and the entire aviation industry, ”Oshan said. “The airline is playing the game they are playing with my client right now. They try to sweep it under the rug, say it had an autopsy, and they let it go. Most people aren’t that energetic or don’t have the medical background my client has. “

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