Dog-In Held At LaGuardia Airport To Protest Death On United Airlines

It’s been all over the news…a 10-month-old French bulldog named Kokito died after a United Airlines flight attendant insisted that he be placed in the overhead bin on a flight from Houston, Texas to LaGuardia.

Animal activists held a ‘dog-in’ at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday as a protest to his death, and the practices of the flight attendant who made a woman place her dog in his carrier in the overhead bin, which ultimately led to his death.

Related: Study: United Airline Responsible For Half Of Animal Injury and Death on Planes

The dog-in was attended by the family of the dog, as well as state Senator Marisol Alcantara and other animal activists and their pets. Senator Alcantara introduced legislation that would create a bill of rights for pet passengers. The bill would ban placing pets in overhead bins (as if that needed to be spelled out) and make sure that pet passengers always have access to food, water and safe travels.

One protester at the dog-in said that she was sad because she believed that the dog wasn’t just in a tight compartment, but was traumatized by the noise of the plane and most likely didn’t know what was going on. Other protesters simply showed their support for the recognition of pets as travelers with rights, and hope their presence shows that change needs to occur.

Related: United Airlines Flubs Again; Mistakenly Sends Family Dog To Japan

For their part, United has said that in April they’ll begin issuing bright-colored tags to travelers who are flying with their pets. Because apparently a TSA-approved dog carrier, the claim of a dog inside and the countless witnesses who heard the dog barking is not enough evidence for United that a dog is, indeed, inside the carrier.

Sigh.